Rumours are rife in Iran that the country’s most powerful military commander could be a “traitor” who is working with Israel.
Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, 67, is the top brass of the Islamic Republic’s Quds Force, a branch of the feared Revolutionary Guard specialising in intelligence and unconventional warfare.
But Qaani has not been seen, even by his family, since October 4 when Israel attacked a bunker in Beirut where he is believed to have met leaders of the terror group Hezbollah.
In a series of stunning military coups, Israeli forces wiped out several senior Hezbollah leaders, including the militant organisation’s chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and his potential successor, Hashem Saffeieddine.
Now the Sun reports Qaani had been suspected of being a top spy for Israel and that he is being interrogated by the Iranian intelligence services.
The newspaper reports sources in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran have said Qaani was not in Beirut at the time of the Israeli strike and that he may have switched sides.
Qaani became head of the Quds Force in 2020 after his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
When he came to power the commander vowed to remove the United States from the Middle East, saying: “We promise to continue martyr Soleimani’s path with the same force … and the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region.”
But now it appears after the lightning success of Israeli attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah commanders, that Qaani may himself have been removed from his position by his peers.
Despite no sign of him, on Tuesday Iraj Masjedi, deputy commander of the Quds Force and former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad said Qaani was “in good health and is carrying out his daily duties”.
And a commander of an armed faction with links to Iran, added: “The Iranians have serious suspicions that the Israelis have infiltrated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, especially those working in the Lebanese arena, so everyone is currently under investigation.
“Nothing is certain at the moment. The investigations are still ongoing and all possibilities are open.”
