“A man has to understand when it's time to leave the party.” The “spy” at the top of Iranian power may not have followed the advice given to his men by the British intelligence chief in the film of the same name. And now he's in trouble. Serious problem. And also because until the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, and the killing of Hashem Safi al-Din, his presumed successor, General Ismail Qaani, was leading the Quds Brigade, the Revolutionary Guards unit responsible for all operations abroad. However, for at least a week, Qaani remained a mysterious shadow, eluding him and his fate. First, they handed him over because he was killed in the bombing that claimed the life of Hashem Safi al-Din. Since Thursday, rumors leaked by Arab intelligence sources and relaunched by Middle East Eye – a website based in London and funded by Qatar – have put him under house arrest in Iran and possibly in serious condition (if not already dead) due to a heart attack. Which happened during interrogation. In short, the general may not have survived the torture he was subjected to during the investigations into his story.
The doubts about him are heavy, to say the least. If tested, it would reveal a flaw of gigantic proportions. A hole that Israel used to eliminate Hezbollah's leadership and direct a series of devastating strikes against Iran. Strikes that could range from the removal of the entire nuclear archive of the Islamic Republic in January 2018, to the elimination of General Qasem Soleimani, Qaani’s predecessor at the helm of Jerusalem, in 2020. Not to mention the killing of scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, responsible for Iran’s nuclear program, again in 2020, or the attack that claimed the life of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas, which was torn apart last July 31 in Tehran by a mysterious explosion during the residence in the Pasdaran building. It is considered completely safe.
The deadly “party” in Qaani could be the one created by Israel to eliminate – between September 27 and October 4 – first Nasrallah and then his supposed successor. It is certain that the President of Jerusalem is the champion of this “party.” On September 26, Tehran's leaders were in turmoil at the whirlwind of Israeli plans to eliminate Nasrallah. So Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforoushan, one of Qaani’s followers, to Beirut to advise the Hezbollah leader to be very careful. But Nasrallah and Nilforoushan consider the secret command of Haret Hreik, a southern suburb of Beirut close to the airport, safe and far from Israeli sight. Instead, as soon as the Hezbollah leader entered the room, planes carrying the Star of David dropped their 2,000-kilogram bombs, killing both Nasrallah and General Nilvoroushan. But what is most suspicious is the liquidation of Nasrallah's successor during the Jihad Council, which was held on the evening of October 4 to approve the appointment of the new Secretary-General. An appointment in which the President of Jerusalem is invited to attend as a representative of the Iranian Godfather. But at the appointed time, Qaani makes an excuse, cancels the meeting, and disappears for at least two days.
This is enough to raise concerns among those at the top of the Islamic Republic and its intelligence services who wonder how Israel can obtain information that only senior leaders in Jerusalem and the Pasdaran unit responsible for managing Hezbollah and all allied militias in the Middle East have access to.
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