Iran is examining possibility that Quds Force commander was killed in strike targeting Hezbollah's new leader Safi al-Din

A report in The New York Times claims that Esmail Qaani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force, may have been killed in the recent strike that targeted Hassan Nasrallah’s replacement Hashem Safi al-Din. 

Safi al-Din was the designated successor to Nasrallah, following his death in an Israeli airstrike last month. 

Qaani, himself, is the replacement for former Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in January 2020. He is considered an influential figure due to Iran's support for its proxy, Hezbollah, and its forces operating in Syria. 

Qaani has not been seen in public since last Sunday, and according to the NYT report, he traveled to Lebanon last week to meet with senior Hezbollah officials to help them plan for the IDF's ground incursion into southern Lebanon. 

The NYT reported that three Iranian officials confirmed Qaani’s travel to Beirut and said the lack of contact with him has caused confusion among the Quds Force. 

Several major Iranian news sites did not run any articles about Qaani for the past of couple days, nor has the Iranian government released an official statement regarding Qaani’s fate. 

One rumor, reported by some Arab news sites, claims that contrary to reports of his death, Qaani is being interrogated in Tehran on suspicion that his office leaked information to Israeli intelligence.

Israel’s N12 news site reported that the IDF was investigating the possibility that Qaani was injured or killed in the bombing strike targeting al-Din. 

According to Saudi news site al-Arabiya, Qaani is currently in hiding after the high-profile killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. 

Iran's Mehr News Agency cited “informed sources” saying that rumors began after Qaani did not appear at Friday’s prayers in Tehran. 

On Sunday, the UK's The Daily Mail reported that Qaani is “believed to have been killed” in the strike on Safi al-Din. The Mail cited a report by Sky News Arabia, with Lebanese sources claiming that all contact with Qaani was lost after the strike. 

A pro-Iranian regime social media account called "Mohammed Mahdi The Truth" (in Persian), wrote a post on Saturday evening: “Our beloved Haj Ismail Qaani is in perfect health, don't be fooled by the enemy's media games that show their weakness.” 

If Qaani was, in fact, killed in the strike on the Hezbollah senior official in Dahiyeh, it would mark the highest-level Iranian official killed by an Israeli strike. His death could prove to be another setback for Iranian interests in Lebanon as Israel increases its operations while targeting the Hezbollah terror group. 

Qaani is also considered a close confidant of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is believed that he may have been involved in Iran’s missile attack on Israel last week.

Qaani’s death, before Israel completes its own retaliatory strike, would be seen as a significant blow to the Iranian regime’s regional proxy war against Israel.