Iran's Quds Force says chief is 'in good health' following reports of his disappearance in Beirut

The deputy commander of Iran's elite Quds Force claimed on Monday that its chief Esmail Qaani is “in good health” amid reports that he was missing in the Lebanese capital of Beirut after last week’s Israeli strike on top Hezbollah terrorist commanders who reportedly convened in a subterranean site.

“He is in good health and is carrying out his activities. Some ask us to issue a statement… there is no need for this,” Quds Force Deputy Commander Iraj Masjedi stated regarding Qaani.

The main target of the Israeli strike was Hashem Safi al-Din, a top Hezbollah official and supposedly the candidate to replace Hezbollah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli aerial strike in Beirut last month.

Addressing Lebanese citizens on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel has decided to put an end to this… We have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities; we took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement. Today, Hezbollah is weaker than it has been for many, many years.”

Both Israeli and international military analysts have assessed that it is unlikely anyone at the top-level Hezbollah meeting survived the massive blast. Reportedly, there was accurate intelligence indicating that Safi al-Din was present at the time of the strike. It is also unclear whether Qaani attended the meeting with top Hezbollah terrorists.

A New York Times report claimed last week that Qaani was killed in the Israeli strike. The Iranian regime reportedly launched an investigation concerning Qaani’s whereabouts. Rumors of Qaani’s fate increased after he reportedly did not attend Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s prayers in Tehran last Friday. On Sunday, Britain's Daily Mail reported that Qaani was “believed to have been killed.”

An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that Qaani visited the Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon but insisted that he did not meet Safi al-Din.

Sky News Arabia reported Lebanese sources claiming there had been no contact with Qaani since the Israeli aerial strike.

The Quds Force is a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is a designated terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and other governments. The forces consist of highly-trained operatives who are tasked with promoting terrorism overseas. It has played a critical role in coordinating Iran’s cooperation with its regional proxies. The Quds Force has been instrumental in arming and training Tehran-loyal militants in Syria and Iraq.

Qaani became the head of the Quds Force after the United States eliminated his predecessor Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq in January 2020.

If Qaani, indeed, perished in the Israeli strike, he would be the highest-ranking Iranian official to have been eliminated by Israel Defense Forces. The Jewish state has eliminated multiple high-ranking Iranian military commanders in recent days, including the IRGC Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed alongside Nasrallah last month.