After the wave of rumors regarding his condition, the Iranian news agency “Fars” reported yesterday that the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, Ismail Kaani, is in good health and continues his work as usual, the news agency “Reuters” reported.
The professor of Iran relations, Dr Ahmed Lashin stated in an interview with the Saudi “Al-Hadth” channel that due to the rigid command structure of the Revolutionary Guards, it is very difficult to penetrate the organization from an intelligence point of view. According to him, there is a very strict screening in Iran, which makes it difficult to recruit informants. It is possible that in the army or the armed forces there are places infiltrated by espionage or exposed, but the Revolutionary Guards are completely loyal to the supreme leader and the country. However, penetration cannot be completely ruled out, since Iran has been infiltrated with security for a long time, and this is not a new phenomenon.
Kaani is alive? In Iran they claim: the commander of the Quds Force was not injured in the attack in Beirut
Referring to the Mossad’s abilities to lure people with a carrot or a stick, Prof. Lashin noted that he is familiar with the known methods. It is possible that the person in question was under pressure, reluctantly, and within the framework of the possible scenarios, it is possible that one of his associates went through a similar crisis or was recruited in one way or another. It is also possible that information was leaked by a prominent and significant figure to Ismail Kani, who passed through one of his associates and from there came into the hands of the Mossad. In most cases, intelligence operations are aimed at senior officials, but they may also be directed at those under their control, loyal to them, or close to them, who are a more convenient target from a security and intelligence point of view.
According to Lashin, blackmail and pressure may be the main tools here, and not necessarily seduction. If the third scenario, according to which Ismail Kani is being investigated in Iran, turns out to be true, it is unlikely that an official announcement will be made soon. It is possible that the Iranian regime will choose to go through the current crisis before making a public announcement, as this is a huge blow for the regime – if it turns out that one of its officials was involved in an intelligence operation for the benefit of Israel, Iran’s greatest enemy. Therefore, even if Kanye was involved in such a thing, it is unlikely that it will be announced soon, and it is possible that he will be eliminated secretly while inventing some story for the public.
However, if it is indeed proven that Ismail Kani was involved in an intelligence operation, it is likely that the Iranian regime will wait until the current crisis, within Iran or between Israel and Iran, passes – for example, the crisis surrounding Beirut and Hezbollah. It should also be noted that the commander of the Quds Force, Ismail Kaani, participated in the swearing-in ceremony of the President of Iran. A short time later, the dramatic assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior member of Hamas, took place, which sparked a wave of speculation about a possible connection between the events.
As a reminder, according to an unverified report by Ehud Yaari in News 12, the commander of the Quds Force stayed together with Hashem Safi al-Din, the designated successor of Hassan Nasrallah, in a bunker that was bombed in the Dahiya district of Beirut by the Israeli Air Force on the night between Thursday and Friday. In addition to this, three officials in Iran confirmed earlier this week to the “New York Times” that Kaani did indeed travel to Lebanon in the days after Nasrallah’s possible assassination, to meet with senior Hezbollah officials and help them deal with the severe blows that Israel dealt the organization.