Esmail Ghani / Ismail Qaani / Ismail Kaani
Iran's Quds Force commander, Esmail Qaani, who went to Lebanon following the killing of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, had been unaccounted for since 05 October 2024 attacks on Beirut. Some Arab and Israeli outlets say he is dead, while others report him as wounded. Two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters on 06 October 2024 that contact with the commander of Iran's Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, who traveled to Lebanon after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike, had been lost since the strikes on Beirut a week earlier.
Qaani, the successor to the late Qassem Soleimani, was in Beirut's southern suburbs when a strike, reportedly targeting Nasrallah's likely successor, Hashem Safieddine, took place, but the official said Qaani did not meet Safieddine. The official said Iran and Hezbollah had not been able to contact Qaani since then. Iranian website Tabnak previously reported: “The public is waiting for news indicating that our general is alive and well,” while another news website, Shahr-e Khabar, published a biography of Ghaani, who spent decades serving in the Revolutionary Guards.
The media published news quoting Mehr news agency, in which an informed source informed about Sardar Qaani's health. After that, two more news about Sardar Qaani's health were published. The first news was published in a tweet by Mohammad Mahdi Hammet , the son of Martyr Hammet last night. He wrote in a tweet: "Our beloved Haj Ismail Qaani is in perfect health, don't be fooled by the enemy's media games that show their weakness." The second news was published by "Middle East News", citing a high-ranking military source, and while denying the rumors about the commander of the Quds Force, this official announced that General Qaani is in perfect health.
With the continued lack of information about Ismail Qaani's condition after reports of his possible presence at the site bombed by Israel in Beirut and the silence of the Islamic Republic authorities about it, on 06 October 2024 , at the ceremony of awarding the "Insignia of Victory" to the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, him was also among the Military officials not seen in photos.
Esmail Qaani was under guard and questioned as Iran probes Nasrallah killing. Th Head of Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force was not wounded, but swept up in major investigation into Iranian security breaches, sources told Middle East Eye.
Not much is known about Brigadier General Ismail Qaani, Qassem Soleimani's successor. Before the 1990s, he rarely appeared in public gatherings and not much news about him was published in the media and news. Ismail Qaani / Ismail Khan (born 08 August 1957 / 17 Mordad 1336 in Mashhad), was Iranian military commander of the Qods Force Iranian Revolutionary Guards Islamic Revolution. After the martyrdom of Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s supreme leader appointed the deputy commander of the Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that program of the Quds Force affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “will be unchanged from the time of his predecessor.”
"Following the ascension of the Supreme Martyr, Honorable Sardar Haj Qassim Suleimani Razwanullah, commanding the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Commander-in-Chief Brig. The area has served. The program of that force is exactly the same as that of the martyr Suleimani. I would like to thank all of those colleagues for their presence and cooperation with Commander Qaani, and I wish them success, approval, and divine guidanc."
He spent his childhood and adolescence in Mashhad until he received his high school diploma. Little information is available about Sardar Ismail Qaani's private and family life, no photo of Sardar Qaani's family and children has been published. There is no mention of who is Sardar Qaani's father-in-law, where is he from, and what was his job.
Sardar Qaani, known as the mastermind of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has a nuclear doctorate and a fighter plane pilot's degree from Russia.
This commander of the Holy Defense era was a 20-year-old youth during the victory of the revolution and joined the Revolutionary Guards at the end of 1958 and went to Tehran for training in the beginning of 1959. According to himself, he was trained with martyr Khadim al-Sharia, the founder of the 21st Brigade of Imam Reza (a.s.) and martyr Chiragchi, the commander of the Imam Reza (a.s.) brigade, in a training class in the Saad Abad barracks - which is now the Imam Ali (a.s.) barracks.
In his early 20's, he served in different divisions and left behind invaluable memorials with his comrades. After the end of his training period, he returned to Mashhad and started his activity at the Revolutionary Guards Training Center as a cadre, and when the events in Kurdistan took place, he went to that region in the middle of 1959 and displayed great bravery in the course of confronting the aggressor forces.
He worked in the front from 1960 until the end of the war and during the holy defense he was in charge of the 5th Nasr and 21st Imam Reza (a.s.) units. The 21st Imam Reza (AS) was one of the strong troops of Khorasan that shone well in various stages of holy defense. Sardar Qaani was the commander of Imam Reza (a.s.) brigade until 66. During the Holy Defense, Sardar Qaani was the commander of the 5th Nasr Division and held this responsibility until the end of the war, proving his capability and qualifications as a vigilant commander.
The state news agency IRNA has written that in the 8-year war between Iran and Iraq, he participated in "operations such as Ashura, the liberation of Garkoni and Fossil heights in the north of Mimak, the eighth Wal-Fajr operation, the capture of the Faw Peninsula, the first Karbala operation, the liberation of Mehran, the eighth Nasr operation, The deployment of Iranian forces in Maut, Karbala Panj and the capture of Shalamcheh played an important role."
After the end of the war in 1367, Sardar Qaani returned to his hometown for a while as the deputy of the 8th operational unit of IRGC Ground Forces in Mashhad, but after the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, he started serving there. His friendship with Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani started from the meetings of operational areas in 1361. Sardar Qaani was the deputy intelligence officer of the IRGC Joint Staff for a while, after which he became the deputy commander of IRGC Quds Force. For a short period of time, he was the deputy of information and the deputy of information protection of IRGC Joint Staff in 2005 to 2006. He was the deputy commander of IRGC Quds Force until January 13, 2018, and after the martyrdom of Haj Qassem Soleimani, he was appointed as IRGC Quds Force commander.
One of the last media appearances of Qaani before this appointment was the unexpected and out-of-frame visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to Iran in March 2019, which caused Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to protest the lack of coordination of this trip with the diplomatic apparatus. Iran should resign. At that time, Qaani said in an interview with the media that the Quds Force had tried to bring Assad and "Mr. President was aware (of this trip)" and related the lack of coordination to the government itself.
Most of the important military commanders and senior officials in the world are called by special nicknames in their own country and other countries, and in the case of Sardar Qaani, the title of Qaani in America: the brain of the Quds Force thinker. Ismail Qaani's nickname in Israel: Syrian man. Sardar Qaani's nickname in the NATO army: to the shadow man.
On January 26, 2013, in one of his stances against America and Israel, Sardar Qaani said: America and Israel are too small to consider themselves equal to Iran's military power; This power has now come to the fore alongside the oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza in the form of missiles and weapons. The new commander of the IRGC Quds Force said on April 18, 2016: "When we took steps to defend the Muslims of Islamic countries, our goal was to fulfill a divine duty, and the first result was directed at the system itself. Thanks to the arrest of Muslims, God removed dangers from this country. and caused Islamic Iran to become a center of security and create security for other countries". In 2016, regarding the scope of activities of the Quds Force, he said that "these forces are active all over the world" and considered it a sign of "growth" and said: "I have been working in the Quds Force for many years and We are connected with many people in the world and we cooperate with them in many fields; we are everywhere and we are nowhere and we can do everything with the help of God.
Jacques Neria, an intelligence officer of the Israeli army and Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser, made claims about the important trip of Ismail Qaani , the commander of the Quds Force, and emphasized: "Whenever Ismail Qaani travels to countries in the region, we know that he must Let's wait for trouble for Israel..." Kan Israel TV confirmed the report of one of the Lebanese media about the formation of a joint war room between Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon and claimed that during the war between Hamas and the Israeli regime, Sardar Qaani traveled to Syria twice. An Israeli TV expert attributed the Al-Aqsa storm operation to Iran and said: "We were hit hard, when Soleimani was killed, we thought the story was over, but his successor showed us how much butter we have..."
Ghaani served as the Deputy Commander of the IRGC-QF. His authority covered IRGC-QF financial disbursements to IRGC-QF elements, including elements in Africa, as well as to various terrorist groups, including Hezbollah. As Deputy Commander, Ghaani had financial oversight of IRGC-QF weapons shipments. The U.S. Department of the Treasury on 27 March 2012 announced the designation of the Iranian cargo airline, Yas Air; Behineh Trading; three Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) officials; and one Nigerian shipping agent – all pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 for acting for or on behalf of, or providing support to, the IRGC-QF, a designated terrorist entity. Esmail Ghani serves as the Deputy Commander of the IRGC-QF. Ghani's authority covers IRGC-QF financial disbursements to IRGC-QF elements, including elements in Africa, as well as to various terrorist groups, including Hizballah. As Deputy Commander, Ghani had financial oversight of the IRGC-QF weapons shipment that was intended for The Gambia.
He was said to have always remained committed to the principles of the Islamic Revolution and spared no efforts to materialize the aspiration of the revolution. The devoted commander also played significant role in many military operations and brought triumphs to Iranian side.
Esmail Ghaani became deputy commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in 1997 when Soleimani became the Force’s chief commander. He was quoted in 2017 by Iranian media as sayingthat U.S. President Donald Trump’s “threats against Iran will damage America … We have buried many … like Trump and know how to fight against America.”
He was added on March 27, 2012 to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezing his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and their supporters; according to OFAC, acts on behalf of or provides support to the IRGC-QF, a designated terrorist entity.
Among his statements: "The Americans, by their presence in the region and launching two major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have reaped nothing but humiliation, humiliation and lack of credibility. Our steadfast resistance is what has made us over the past 40 years vigorously confront the sinister acts of America and Israel and their allies, and that We proudly exit from all conspiracies in the military and security fields and economic pressures. He added, that during the past 15 years, the more the enemy increases his attacks, the greater the resistance of the people accordingly.
He also commented earlier on Syria , and denounced "selective American practices in Syria ," stating that "if the Americans feel that they are unable to advance their goals through war, they resort to raising the banner of negotiation.
In one of his interviews he said the US and Zionist regime are much weaker to compete with Iran's military might which backs oppressed Palestinians and people in Gaza. Ismail Qazani, accused the United States of spending $ 7 trillion on establishing and supporting ISIS and providing 5,000 dead, without being able to do anything. He said Qaana in a speech at a ceremony to commemorate the "defenders of the martyrs of the holy shrines," that "martyrs are the pioneers of the defense of the revolution, and We have given martyrs in every moment for the arrival of the revolution to the year of forty, and in the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the revolution, must initially honoring the martyrs And their families, "according to the Iranian" Fars "agency. He added, "The regional victories that owe the heroism of the martyrs for forty years of the revolution, and without the martyrs, no one could have confronted America in a direct war in the region," he said.
Commander Ismail Qaani said in a memorial to the martyrs of the Semnan University's shrine: "The victory of the Resistance Front is one of the great honors of Iran. He stated that moving along the path of martyrs and keeping their aspirations alive is one of the most important tasks of our day: With the victory of the Front of Resistance, the pure Islamist Mohammadi was introduced worldwide and its legitimacy became public.
The deputy commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards emphasized that the United States was the most important supporter of the ISIS Takfiri group: Americans are working to promote Islam and American culture in the Muslim communities and countries of the region, which defeated the victory of American Islam in the world. He added that the war in Syria was a trans-regional war, adding that despite the presence of the martyrs of the shrine and the resistance fighters, the advance of this Takfiri and anti-Islamic terrorist group in the region was prevented. The war with ISIS was a valuable and beautiful jihad.
Commander Qaani emphasized that the suicide bombers carried out by the ISIS Takfiri group in the area around the clock said: These were actions to crush the resistance of the warrior.
After the martyrdom of the honorable General Haj Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, who was martyred during a terrorist operation along with his other associates, such as Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, the Supreme Leader and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ayatollah Khamenei appointed General Ismail Qaani as the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The commander of IRGC Quds Force said: Today you are on the verge of electing the president and you want to elect someone who will continue the path of Martyr Raeesi, note that the person who raised Martyr Raeesi and Martyr Amir Abdulahian are the criteria that should be followed in our elections. They pay attention.
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