Iran’s chief of overseas arms dealings radio silent since Beirut strikes: Iranian officials

close Video

Change to Iranian regime would ‘put an end to all of these problems’: HRH Reza Pahlavi

The exiled crown prince of Iran weighs in on the Iranian regime, sends a message to the Iranian people and assesses his nation’s oil potential.

Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please enter a valid email address. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Having trouble? Click here.

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) overseas military-intelligence service, who traveled to Lebanon last month after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike, has not been heard from since last week’s strikes on Beirut, Iranian officials say.

Reuters reported that two senior Iranian security officials confirmed that Iran’s Quds Force commander, Esmail Qaani, had not been heard from since late last week.

One official told the wire Qaani was in the southern suburbs of Beirut during a missile strike that reportedly targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, though he was not meeting with the Hezbollah leader.

An official from Hezbollah said Israel was not permitting them to search for Safieddine after the bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday. The group also said it would not announce Safieddine’s fate until the search for him was over.

ISRAELI OFFICIAL WARNS ‘EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE’ AS IDF PREPARES RESPONSE TO IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK

IRGC chief Esmail Qaani has not been heard from since Israel launched an assault on Hezbollah in Beirut last week. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Safieddine was reportedly a likely successor to Nasrallah, who died when Israel launched a strike on Dahiyeh on Sept. 27.

The Iranian official told the Associated Press that Iran and Hezbollah were unable to contact Qaani after the U.S. assassinated his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in 2020.

The second Iranian official told the AP that Qaani traveled to Lebanon after Nasrallah was killed, adding that authorities had not been able to contact him since the strike on Safieddine.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES LIMITED GROUND OPERATIONS IN LEBANON AS WAR AGAINST HEZBOLLAH, TERRORIST GROUPS CONTINUE

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the southern suburb of Beirut on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security, told Fox News Digital that the higher up an official is, the harder it is to conceal.

“Whatever the verdict is on Qaani’s whereabouts, the fact that the regime has not been able to produce him to quell rumors means he is either injured or in hiding,” Taleblu said. “Israel is pressing its advantage in Lebanon against commanders of Iran’s threat network, leading to command-and-control issues and chaos that generates rumors like these.”

BIDEN SAYS HE WILL TALK TO NETANYAHU AS ISRAEL PUMMELS SUNNI TERROR TARGETS IN BEIRUT

An IDF profile picture shows Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, who the IDF confirmed was killed in a strike. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani was asked about reports that Qaani may have been killed in the Israeli airstrike, and he said the results of the strikes were still being assessed.

Shoshani said the attack late last week was against Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.

Qaani’s Quds Force is responsible for overseeing the dealings with Tehran and allied militias like Hezbollah across the Middle East.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

IRGC commander Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, was killed with Nasrallah on Sept. 27 when Israel’s bombs struck his bunker.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.