Unverified reports circulating online claim that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has detained or even executed Qaani over suspicions of spying for Israel.
In a post on X by The National News, “Esmail Qaani, head of Iran’s Quds Force has been executed by IRGC. He has survived all assassination attempts so far & was even with Khamenei during US-ISRAEL bombing but escaped.
Earlier, he was taken into custody by the IRGC on suspicion of being a Mossad agent.” Similar claims appeared on multiple social media profiles, none providing concrete evidence.
Qaani, 67, took command of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force in January 2020 following the US drone strike in Baghdad that killed his predecessor.
The unit oversees Iran’s foreign operations and commands a network of regional allies and militias often described as the “Axis of Resistance.”
During his leadership, the network has suffered heavy losses. The long-time Hezbollah leader has died, other senior figures have been assassinated, and dozens of Iranian commanders have been eliminated in targeted strikes.
A joint US-Israeli operation last Saturday reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader along with several senior security officials, but Qaani was not among the casualties.
Qaani’s repeated survival has fueled suspicion. Over the past two years, regional media citing unnamed security sources reported that he was near multiple targeted strikes that killed high-ranking Iranian officials.
During last year’s 12-day Iran-Israel war, several outlets claimed he had been killed, only for him to reappear days later at a public event in Tehran, wearing civilian clothes and a baseball cap.
A similar report in October 2024 suggested he had been interrogated and briefly isolated amid an internal investigation into security lapses.
Following Israel’s successful targeting of Hezbollah’s leadership, Iranian authorities launched an investigation into possible intelligence failures. Regional reports indicated Qaani and some of his team were temporarily isolated for questioning.
Israel had previously published a list of Iranian and Iran-linked officials it intended to eliminate, which was declared “complete” over the weekend. Qaani’s name was not included.
Tehran has not officially confirmed Qaani’s status. In the absence of verified information, speculation continues to circulate online, adding another chapter to the story of a commander who repeatedly survives amid the chaos surrounding him.