Questions are raised about his face, as well as whether he is still alive. According to Arab media, the Quds commander may have already been captured and even executed by the Iranian regime as a spy for Israel.
In recent years, the regime’s top executive has developed a reputation for being the man who has the ability to walk away from places unscathed when everyone around him is dying. But now that Tehran is at war with Washington and Tel Aviv, he is once again in the eye of the storm. More specifically, there is increased speculation that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has arrested him, or even executed him, on suspicion of spying for Israel. In fact, some argue that he may even be an accomplice of the Mossad
“Ismail Qaani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, was executed by the IRGC. He has survived all assassination attempts so far and was even with Khamenei during the US-Israeli bombings but escaped. Earlier, he was arrested by the IRGC on suspicion of being a Mossad agent,” an account on X said, as explained by “”, while the claim is also reportedly coming from other sources.
Arab media have reported the execution of IRGC special forces general Ismail Qaani for espionage on behalf of Mossad
The Emirati portal The National, citing unconfirmed sources, claims that Qaani was accused of espionage and executed.
Qaani, the head of the Quds Force special…
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)
Who is Ismail Kaani?
Ismail Kaani is an Iranian brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of the Quds Force. This elite group is mainly responsible for Iran operations. He assumed office after the assassination of his predecessor in Baghdad, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020.
The Quds Force is Iran’s elite arm for foreign operations, the unit that created, armed and coordinated the “Axis of Resistance” across the Middle East. During his tenure, this axis was disbanded.
The Iranian brigadier general was born on August 8, 1957 in the city of Mashhad, one of the most populous cities in the country with a strong religious element. In 1980, he joined the Iranian organization, where he gradually rose through the ranks. In fact, he fought with them in the Iran-Iraq war.
Tehran named Ismail Kaani the head of the Corps’ overseas military intelligence service, and his duties were to manage Tehran’s paramilitary allies in the Middle East, as well as other regions around the world.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when he put him in command of the Quds Force, described him as “one of the most prominent military commanders during the Holy Defence». Although he himself never managed to have the same respect as his predecessor.
During Ismail Kaani’s tenure, his unit has managed to evolve its strikes and outwit Israeli spies. At the same time, he chose to keep a low profile and not appear in public.
How did the “Axis of Resistance” break up?
While Ismail Kaani was serving in the Quds Force several events occurred, which led to the end of the “Axis of Resistance. In particular, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated. The political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated. Dozens of senior Iranian commanders were killed.
The climax of these deaths was the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, by the joint US-Israeli strike. With him at the time seem to have been several senior officials of the Iranian regime.
The suspicions of espionage
The Nasrallah case
leading conspiracy theorists at the time to state that he had been arrested and interrogated by the Iranian regime for the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. In fact, at that time there were several reports that wanted him dead, but in the end all of these were denied.
The reports were mainly based on the fact that the Hezbollah leader was killed by Israeli airstrike while he was in a secret meeting of the Shura Council. The “spy” who “gave him in” was at the meeting point for a while and then left, after first ascertaining the arrival of the leader of the Lebanese organization. In fact, as it was underlined, Ismail Kaani was also in Beirut on the same day, and while he was present at this meeting, he finally left prematurely.
The Khamenei case
Ismail Kaani, although he was the commander and directly responsible for the management of the regional proxy network, during a regional war, was not mentioned among the dead.
His pattern of survival has raised suspicions, as several reports, based on unnamed security sources, have hinted over the past two years that he was allegedly close to participating in several of the attacks that killed Iran’s most senior officials.
During the 12-day Iran-Israel war, he was declared dead by many media outlets before reappearing at a public commemoration in Tehran in late June 2025, wearing civilian clothes and a baseball cap, in apparently good health. The same scene played out in October 2024, when he was declared dead, but then reportedly interrogated and then reappeared on state television.
Away from social media and after Israel’s devastating infiltration of Hezbollah, which allowed it to systematically eliminate the group’s leadership, Iran launched a formal investigation into a security breach. Anonymous sources from the region told regional media that Ismail Kaani and his team were placed under isolation and interrogation.
Of course, it is worth noting that Israel had published a list of Iranians and Iranian-linked officials it wanted eliminated. Last weekend, that list was labeled “full” and Kaani’s name was not on it.
