Iran's Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani attends funeral of IRGC general killed in Beirut

Deputy head of elite unit had debunked reports of Mr Qaani being harmed in Israeli bombing of Beirut

Esmail Qaani attended a funeral procession on Tuesday for an Iranian military commander killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike, disproving reports the Iranian Quds Force commander may have been harmed in Lebanon by Israeli bombing.

Early this month, media reports citied senior Iranian security officials as saying Mr Qaani had travelled to Lebanon after the killing of Nasrallah on September 27 and had not been heard from amid heavy Israeli bombing of south Beirut. Iraj Masjedi, the deputy commander of the Quds Force, had denied reports that Mr Qaani was harmed in the violence.

On Tuesday, Mr Qaani was seen along with other commanders at the funeral ceremony for senior military commander Abbas Nilforoushan in the Iranian capital Tehran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, publishing a video showing him sitting with others in attendance.

Iran appointed Mr Qaani, 67, as commander of the Quds Force, which oversees the military and intelligence service, after the US assassinated his powerful predecessor Qassem Suleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.

As a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force directs a network of militant proxies and Iran’s foreign operations. This so-called Axis of Resistance has been under intense scrutiny since the Gaza war erupted a year ago, facing its biggest test of strength and unity yet.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah, the primary group within the axis, has suffered significant setbacks, including the killing of Nasrallah. Many other senior leaders, along with Iranian operatives and Quds Force commanders, have also been killed, constituting the force’s most severe intelligence and military defeats since Maj Gen Suleimani's death.

The body of Nilforoushan, a member of the IRGC, was expected to be flown to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, the state-run Sepah news agency reported.

On Monday, his coffin was in Iraq where it was received at Baghdad Airport by the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Mohammad Kadhim Al Sadiq, as well as Abd Al Aziz Al Muhammadawi, leader of the influential Iran-backed Hezbollah Brigades and Chief of Staff of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

It was transported to the holy Shiite city of Karbala in a motorcade before being taken on Monday night to the spiritual capital of Najaf, home to a shrine for revered Imam Ali.

In Karbala, Shiite militiamen in uniform and supporters carried the coffin, which was later seen wrapped in the Iranian flag. It was taken to the shrines of Imam Hussein – grandson of the Prophet Mohammed – and his brother Imam Abbas. Supporters in the streets held pictures of Nilforoushan and Nasrallah, while others waved the flags of Hezbollah and the PMF.