One of the top generals of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Esmail Qa’ani, has returned to the public eye after days of speculation that he may have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
Qa’ani is the commander of the elite Quds Force, one of the five branches of the IRGC, and oversees Iran’s military and intelligence operations abroad, mainly in the Middle East.
He took over the role in 2020 after his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq.
Footage broadcast by Iranian state media on Tuesday showed Qa’ani attending a memorial service in Tehran for a general assassinated by Israel.
As Israel stepped up its attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon in recent weeks, questions began to arise about Qa’ani’s whereabouts, with some media outlets speculating that he may have been killed in an Israeli attack in Lebanon on 3 October.
Other media reported that the general had disappeared because associates of his were being questioned on suspicion of spying for Israel.
Iranian state media has rejected all these claims and reported that Qa’ani was doing well.
