The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, visited Lebanon to coordinate with Hezbollah concerning the conflict with Israel on Wednesday, the Lebanese al-Jadeed news reported on Wednesday.
In early October, just a day after Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel, Syrian media reported that Qaani was on a visit to Lebanon as well.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Iranian media on Wednesday that Qaani is “working for peace and security in the region and fighting terrorism” and that Iran is not giving direct orders to its proxies in the region.
“They make decisions according to their interests and developments,” he said.
Qaani’s latest reported visit to Lebanon comes just two days before Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is set to make his first public comments since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
Hamas trained with IRGC Quds Force before massacre
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 500 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists received specialized training from the Quds Force up to a month before the October 7 massacre.