MO: Iranian TV footage appears to show Commander Qaani alive
The first concrete evidence of the existence of the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, General Esmail Qaani, could come from a film shown on Iranian state television. According to widely circulated footage, he was seen attending a memorial service in the Iraqi city of Karbala for a high-ranking Revolutionary Guard commander, General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an Israeli air strike along with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27. In recent days, conflicting rumors and reports have spread about Qaani’s whereabouts after she disappeared from the public eye. Some, including Israeli media, reported that he may have been killed in an Israeli attack in Lebanon on senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safi al-Din. Other claims suggest that he may have suffered a heart attack or that he was interrogated by Iran on suspicion of being a spy. In fact, the 67-year-old Qaani has not been seen in public for days, and was not even seen during Friday prayers led by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on October 4. Three days later, the first official comment came from the Deputy Coordinator of the Quds Force, Iraj Masjedi, stating that Qaani was “safe and sound” and carrying out his work normally. “Many ask us: What happened to Brigadier General Qaani? The Deputy Coordinator of the Quds Force said, in a statement reported by Iranian media, that he is safe and sound and doing his work. “Some say to make a statement. Statement why? “There is no need to do that,” Masjedi added. Qaani was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Quds Force in 2020, after the assassination of his predecessor, General Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq by the United States.
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