Commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, was seen alive and well after videos on social media appear to show the commander attending a rally in Tehran on Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post has reported.

 

According to the report, Iran Nuances X (formerly Twitter) account posted the video with the caption, “General Qaani, Commander of IRGC Quds Force, seen among Tehran’s rally attendees today following the last night attack on the US Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar (sic).”

 

The Post claimed that Iran's state-owned Press TV also published the video. It said, “Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, Commander of the IRGC Quds Force, was warmly received by a jubilant crowd in Tehran during victory celebrations over the Zionist (Israeli) regime.”

 

On June 13, the day when Israel launched provocative strikes in Iran’s cities, The New York Times, citing Iranian sources, had reported that Qaani was killed during the strike.

 

Qaani succeeded Qasem Soleimani as commander after the latter was killed in a targeted operation by the United States (US) in 2020 in Baghdad.

 

Following an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s presumed successor Hashem Safieddine, Qaani’s location was reportedly unknown in October 2024.

 

After Israel’s strikes on Irani cities, reports had claimed that top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of others were killed.

 

Israel said that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. However, Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Iranian officials have repeatedly said they do not plan to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue their right to nuclear energy and research.

 

However, when Iran retaliated with barrages of missile attacks in Tel Aviv, the US joined in, intensifying the conflict. 

 

On Sunday morning, US carried out aerial strikes at nuclear facilities in Iran, including Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. 

In a televised address to the nation from the White House, US President Donald Trump said US air strikes “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites.

 

Declaring the strikes in Iran “spectacular military success” the US president said that they targeted the crucial underground nuclear enrichment plants.

 

After 12 days of aerial combat between the two regional arch-foes, US President Trump announced overnight a ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end their conflict.

 

Later, the ceasefire was violated; however, on Tuesday, the US president announced in a post on Truth Social that the ceasefire will remain "in effect".