Iran: Quds Force head Esmail Qaani makes first appearance in weeks at general’s funeral

The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, has attended events in Tehran marking the return of the body of another general killed in Lebanon alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Qaani could be seen in footage and photos broadcast by Iranian media on Tuesday showing the arrival of Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan’s coffin at the Iranian capital’s Mehrabad Airport.

Nilforoushan was killed in an Israeli air strike with Nasrallah in southern Beirut on 27 September. Iran announced on Saturday that it had found his body.

Qaani had not been seen in public since shortly after that air strike.

He is believed to have then travelled to Beirut, which prompted speculation that he might also have been killed or injured in another air strike which appeared to target Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Safieddine, on 4 October.

Middle East Eye reported last week that Qaani was alive and unhurt but under guard and being questioned about apparent security breaches surrounding the killing of Nasrallah.

Middle East Eye sources say Iranian authorities have serious suspicions about a major security breach in Qaani’s office, though none of MEE’s sources suggested Qaani was involved. Iranian authorities have not commented on reports that Qaani was questioned.

Initial findings of the investigation, according to MEE’s sources, suggest that Qaani’s “negligence” and “weak management” had “led to untrustworthy people entering his office” and that these may have been the cause of security breaches that led to Nasrallah’s death.

MEE understands that Qaani returned to Tehran on the plane of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who made a brief visit to Beirut on 4 October.

An IRGC advisor last week told the Tasnim news agency that Qaani was “in perfect health” and was expected to receive a medal from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “in the coming days”.

Qaani, wearing a black shirt, appeared tired but showed no signs of injury in footage of a ceremony at Mehrabad Airport marking the arrival of Nilforoushan’s coffin.

Other footage of funeral proceedings in Tehran’s Imam Hossein Square showed Qaani dressed in a military uniform and seated alongside judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Nilforoushan’s body has returned to Iran via Iraq, where on Monday Iranian media broadcast footage of a funeral procession in the holy city of Karbala.

The Quds Force is a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for external affairs, including managing and maintaining Iran’s network of allied and sponsored armed groups, widely known as the “axis of resistance”, opposed to Israel.

Nilforoushan began overseeing operations in Syria and Lebanon after his predecessor, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed in an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate building in Damascus in April.

Qaani, who is 67, was named head of the Quds Force in January 2020 after his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad.