Did Israel Kill Iran’s Quds Force Chief?

Iran and Hezbollah have not been able to contact Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (irgc) Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani since Israel conducted an air strike on Beirut, Lebanon, on October 4.

The air strike targeted Hashem Safieddine, the likely successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Qaani was in Beirut’s southern suburbs when the strike hit. Safieddine was likely killed by the strike, and although he was not believed to have been meeting with Qaani at the time, Qaani has not been heard from since.

Hezbollah says it is trying to look for Qaani, but Israel is obstructing search and rescue efforts of the targeted area.

Israel says: Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani neither confirmed nor denied the reports; he told reporters the strike was still being assessed.

When we have more specific results from that strike, we will share it. There’s a lot of questions about who was there and who was not.
—Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani

Why is it important? The Quds Force is a branch of Iran’s military that supplies support and intelligence to its proxy terrorist groups around the Middle East, such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Last week, Iran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israel for killing Nasrallah and irgc commander Abbas Nilforoushan.

Israel continues to take out top officials in Iran’s terrorist regime. Though this may weaken Iran’s influence over certain regions, it will also aggravate Iran’s aggression.

Learn more: Read “Hassan Nasrallah Is Dead.”