Who is Esmail Qaani? Iran denies claims of Mossad-linked assassination attempt on IRGC commander

Iran quashed reports claiming that Esmail Qaani, commander of the Iranian Quds Force, was assassinated on Friday, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency. The reports, allegedly circulated through a social media account linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence, prompted Iranian authorities to refute the claims.

Qaani told the agency that the rumours were an attempt to track his location by alarming his associates.

Qaani, who took command after Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US operation in 2020, had been reported dead by an Iranian source to the New York Times during a two-week conflict between Israel and Iran in June. Subsequent video evidence following the report suggested he survived targeted airstrikes across Iran. In 2024, Qaani also went missing during strikes on Lebanon but was later seen at an airport in Iran, further confirming his continued presence.

Who is Esmail Qaani?

Esmail Qaani, 61, born in Mashhad, has risen through the ranks to lead Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force after two decades as Qasem Soleimani’s right-hand man. He received his military training at the Imam Ali Officers Academy in Tehran, joined the IRGC in his early 20s, and served in multiple divisions. During the Iran-Iraq War, he commanded the Nasr-5 and 21st Imam Reza divisions. Following the war, he became deputy commander of the Guard’s ground forces in Mashhad, overseeing the 1992 crackdown on protesters.

International sanctions and allegations

In 1997, Qaani was appointed deputy commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force alongside Soleimani. Over the years, he managed intelligence roles and oversaw the allocation of funds to proxy groups including Hezbollah and operations in Africa. In 2012, under President Barack Obama, the US Treasury designated Qaani and several entities as Specially Designated Terrorists. This included a case where a Turkish inspection of a Yas Air flight to Syria, listed as carrying spare auto parts, instead contained weapons such as AK-47s, machine guns, nearly 8,000 rounds of ammunition, and assorted explosives. Qaani is suspected of overseeing both the weapons shipments and global funding for IRGC-Quds Force operations.