Ismail Qaani
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Esmail Qaani (also rendered as Ismail Qaani; ; 8 August 1957) is an Iranian brigadier general in the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...
(IRGC) who serves as the commander of the IRGC
Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...
, an elite
special operations force Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
responsible for
extraterritorial operations An extraterritorial operation in international law is a law enforcement or military operation that takes place outside the territory or jurisdiction of the state whose forces are conducting the operation, generally within the territory of another s ...
. Qaani succeeded
Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...
as Quds Force commander after Soleimani was assassinated in January 2020. ''The New York Times'' reported that
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
airstrikes killed Qaani on 13 June 2025 during Israel's initial attacks against Iran in the
Iran–Israel war The Iran–Israel War is an ongoing armed conflict between Iran and Israel. Active hostilities broke out amid poor relations between Iran and Israel, 2025 United States–Iran negotiations , negotiations between Iran and the United States ov ...
, yet he was seen alive during the ceasefire celebrations in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
.


Early life

Qaani was born in
Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
, a pilgrimage city and the second most populous in Iran. He joined the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...
(IRGC) in 1980.


Military career

During the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
, Qaani led the 5th Nasr Brigade and 21st Imam Reza Armored Brigade. In 1981, he received his military training in Imam Ali Officers' Academy in Tehran. The war was where he first met the late IRGC general, Qasem Soleimani, who was the commander of the
41st Tharallah Division The 41st Tharallah Division (also spelled Sarallah) () was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from 1980 until it was merged into the Sarallah Corps of Kerman Province in 2008. Formation In 1980, a battalion was established consi ...
at the time. After the war, he joined the IRGC's Quds Force and started his activities in
Khorasan Province Khorasan ( ; also transcribed as Khurasan, Xorasan and Khorassan), also called Traxiane during Hellenistic and Parthian Empire, Parthian times, was a Provinces of Iran, province in northeastern Iran until September 2004, when it was divided in ...
, which borders
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
,
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. While Soleimani was stationed in the west, Qaani focused on Iranian priorities in the east, such as combating drug smuggling and supporting Afghanistan's
Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...
in its battles against the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
during the Third Afghan Civil War. He tackled nuclear armed Pakistan without stirring a full-frontal encounter. In 1997, Qaani was appointed deputy commander of the Quds Force, by chief commander Rahim Safavi, with
Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...
as commander. As Deputy, Qaani oversaw financial disbursements to paramilitary groups including
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
. An arms shipment intended for
the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
was intercepted in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
in October 2010.


War against the Taliban in Afghanistan

After joining the Quds Force, Qaani started military operations in eastern Iran that helped facilitate support for the Northern Alliance. In the 1990s, he fought against Afghan drug cartels on Iran's border with Afghanistan. On 9 January 2018, Qaani visited a hospital that was being built with Iranian funds in Afghanistan as the envoy of Iran.


Syrian civil war

On 25 May 2012, two villages in the
Houla The Houla Region or Houla Plain ( ''Al-Ḥūla'') is an area consisting of three villages in the Homs Governorate of central Syria, northwest of the city of Homs. The biggest village in the Houla region had 20,041 inhabitants in 2004 and is calle ...
region of Syria were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 108 people, including 49 children.
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
investigators concluded that victims had been killed in "two bouts of
summary execution In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
s" by pro-Assad
Shabiha ''Shabiha'' (North Levantine Arabic, Levantine Arabic: ', ; also romanized ''Shabeeha'' or ''Shabbiha''; ) is a colloquial and generally derogatory term for various loosely-organised Syrian militias loyal to the Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist govern ...
.
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European an ...
asserted on 29 May that Qaani alleged in an interview two days earlier that the Quds force helped train Shabiha forces responsible for the Houla attack. On 27 May, Qaani gave an interview to Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) stating, "Thanks to Iran's presence in Syria—physically and nonphysically—big massacres were prevented ... if the Islamic republic had not been present in Syria, the massacre of its people would have been multiplied." The interview was deleted from ISNA's site within hours, but copies remained on other news outlets. According to Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli expert on the Middle East, Qaani's statement was "the first time that an IRGC senior officer has admitted that the Quds force is operating in Syria." Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Chairman
Hassan Firouzabadi Sayyid Hassan Aghaee Firouzabadi (; 3 February 1951 – 3 September 2021) was an Iranian military officer. He served as the Chief-of-Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces—the most senior military authority in Iran—from 1989 to 2016. After that, ...
voiced on
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
that " do not interfere in Syria's internal affairs but we support Syria as the resistance front against
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
because one of our principles is the
issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...
of
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. ... We have encouraged the country's government to implement reforms and listen to its people's demands." Prior to his appointment as Quds Force commander, Qaani was most famous for recruiting the
Liwa Fatemiyoun Liwa Fatemiyoun (; Persian language, Persian/Dari Persian, Dari: ), literally "Fatimid Liwa (Arabic), Banner" or Fatemiyoun Brigade, also known as Lashkar-e-Fatemiyoun (; Persian language, Persian/Dari Persian, Dari: ) or Fatemiyoun Division is an ...
and
Liwa Zainebiyoun The Followers of Zainab Brigade (; Persian: or , ''Liwa Zeinabiyoun'' or ''Lashkare Zeinabiyoun''; ), also known as the Zainebiyoun Brigade or Zainebiyoun Division, is a Pakistani Shia Khomeinist militant group. It was actively engaged in the ...
Shia fighters operating in Syria.


Escalation of Iran–United States tensions

As early as 2017, Qaani was quoted as having expressed bellicose rhetoric towards
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, which was likely motivated by U.S. involvement in the region. At a ceremony commemorating martyrs on 5 July 2017, he contended that the U.S. had futilely spent $6 trillion on Iraq and Afghanistan in attempts to attack Iran. He ended saying, "America has suffered more losses from us than we have suffered losses from them." On 13 October 2017, President Trump declined to recertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), less formally known as the Iran nuclear deal. On 22 January 2020, the U.S. targeted Qaani with a death threat, "if he followed a similar path by killing Americans."
Abbas Mousavi Abbas Mousavi () is an Iranian career diplomat. He was spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran from 2019 to 2020. In August 2020, he was appointed as an ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan. He was dismissed from the role in 2024, re ...
,
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is an official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. List :''Source'': See also * Spokespe ...
said: "These words are an official announcement and a clear unveiling of America's targeted and governmental terrorism". In January 2020, in the wake of the drone strike that killed his predecessor Soleimani, Qaani stated on
Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...
, "We tell everyone, be patient and see the dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East."


Command of Quds Force

In January 2020, Leader of Iran
Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...
appointed Qaani as Commander of the
Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...
after General
Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...
was killed by a targeted U.S. drone strike near
Baghdad International Airport Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport from 1982 to 2003, () is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate. It is the home base for Ira ...
. Khamenei described him as "one of the most prominent military commanders during the Sacred Defense". Saeid Golkar, a professor of political science at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
in the US and a visiting fellow for Iran policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, believed that for Khamenei, it was important that the new commander had qualities such as "loyal" and "committed" to himself and the Revolutionary Guard. Also, he was familiar with the Quds Force and management of the forces and Iran's proxies. Qaani fit that bill. Iranian expatriate and political expert, Dr. Karim Abdian Bani Saeed, expressed the view that the appointment of the subject was hasty and that Qaani's expertise fell short of the assassinated Soleimani. He noted that despite his relatively unknown figure, Qaani was a veteran with decades of overseas military experience, and signaled that his appointment was unlikely to either reduce the Quds Force influence upon Iranian foreign policy, or change Iranian influence in the region.


Allegations and withdrawal from public life

In early October 2024, concerns emerged regarding the whereabouts of Qaani. Speculation grew after his absence from major public events, including a prayer service led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in honor of Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...
. He was last seen assisting
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
in
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, but no official statement has been issued by the IRGC regarding his condition. Israeli and Arab media reported that Qaani might have been injured or killed in an Israeli arirstrike in Beirut, and Iranian officials have not confirmed his status. An October report by Middle East Eye stated that he was being questioned over security breaches. Qaani was rumored to have been under suspicion for a potential intelligence leak that enabled Israel to devastate Hezbollah in 2024. Following the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...
, members of the IRGC reportedly questioned Qaani over concerns that he may have been linked to Israeli intelligence activities. According to ''The Sun'', Qaani was allegedly placed under house arrest and interrogated on accusations of being an Israeli spy.


Renewed tensions with Israel and US

In the lead up to the
Iran–Israel war The Iran–Israel War is an ongoing armed conflict between Iran and Israel. Active hostilities broke out amid poor relations between Iran and Israel, 2025 United States–Iran negotiations , negotiations between Iran and the United States ov ...
, Qaani strongly criticised Trump and the US assuring that Iran is ready and prepared for any military aggression.


Reported death

According to ''The'' ''New York Times'',
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
airstrikes killed Qaani on 13 June 2025 during Israel's opening attacks against Iran in the
Iran–Israel war The Iran–Israel War is an ongoing armed conflict between Iran and Israel. Active hostilities broke out amid poor relations between Iran and Israel, 2025 United States–Iran negotiations , negotiations between Iran and the United States ov ...
.


Sanctions

In March 2012, Qaani was added to the
Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...
by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's
Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...
(OFAC), freezing his presumed assets and prohibiting transactions with U.S. entities. The U.S. targeted Qaani with sanctions for overseeing the distribution of Quds Force funding to regional allies. In October 2017, the Trump administration announced new sanctions against the Revolutionary Guard as a supporter of terrorist groups. Qaani responded, "We are not a war-mongering country. But any military action against Iran will be regretted... Trump's threats against Iran will damage America... We have buried many... like Trump and know how to fight against America." In October 2022, Qaani was included in a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
sanctions list that included 9 Iranian entities, and 25 senior officials. The sanctions came in reaction to the
death of Mahsa Amini On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the Islamic religious police, religious morality police of ...
, and the persecution of protestors in the widescale protests that ensued. On 31 May 2024, the EU Council imposed personal sanctions against Qaani, citing his responsibility as the commander of the
Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...
s for providing Iranian weaponry to a wide web of Iran-backed militias and other proxies operating across the Middle East, including the Yemeni
Houthi Movement The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydism, Zaydi Shia Islamism, Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadersh ...
.


See also

*
List of Iranian commanders in the Iran–Iraq War A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The following individuals have been identified as commanding officers (currently or in the past) of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. Commanders-in-chief was IRGC's "first unofficial ...
*
Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh () is an Iranian senior military officer and politician who is deputy commander of Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since April 2021. Fallahzadeh served as the IRGC Quds Force's deputy for coordi ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qaani, Esmail 1957 births Living people Military personnel from Mashhad Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Syrian civil war Quds Force personnel People of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) Anti-Americanism Iranian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List