Speculation is mounting over the fate of Esmail Qaani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, amid unverified reports circulating in regional and Arab media claiming he may have been arrested or even executed by Iranian authorities on suspicion of spying for Israel.

Tehran has not confirmed the reports, and their authenticity remains unclear. However, the claims have spread widely online, fueled by long-standing speculation surrounding the 67-year-old general’s repeated survival of a series of deadly attacks that have killed many senior Iranian and allied figures.

Qaani, often dubbed “the man with nine lives” in regional media, took command of the Quds Force in January 2020 after the United States killed his predecessor, Qassem Suleimani. The Quds Force is the external operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for building, arming and coordinating the so-called “Axis of Resistance” across the Middle East.

During Qaani’s tenure, several prominent figures within that network have been killed. Among them were Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime head of Hezbollah who died in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, and Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran.

Online rumors have suggested that Qaani may have leaked information that enabled the operation targeting Haniyeh. According to the speculation, Israel destroyed a secret hideout in Tehran shortly after Qaani visited Haniyeh at the location.

Dozens of other senior Iranian commanders have also been killed in attacks across the region. Most recently, a joint U.S.–Israeli operation reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, along with several senior regime figures.

Qaani, who was responsible for managing Iran’s regional proxy network during the escalating confrontation, was notably not reported to be among those killed. His absence from casualty lists has fueled suspicion, particularly because he was reportedly close to several of the sites that were later struck.

Some reports claim he left the location of the explosion that killed Khamenei only minutes before the blast, prompting speculation that he may have passed intelligence to Israel.

Further speculation intensified after claims that an insider recruited by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency allegedly sent a video of Khamenei’s body to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel had previously published a list of Iranian and Iran-linked officials it intended to eliminate. The list was declared “complete” last weekend, and Qaani’s name was not included.

Over the past two years, multiple reports citing unnamed security sources have suggested that Qaani had been scheduled to attend several meetings or visits to locations that were later targeted in lethal strikes, according to reporting by The National.

During a 12-day confrontation between Iran and Israel, several media outlets even reported that Qaani had been killed, only for him to reappear publicly in Tehran in late June 2025. He attended a celebration wearing civilian clothes and a baseball cap and appeared to be in good health.

A similar sequence occurred in October 2024, when reports again claimed he had been killed. He was later said to have been interrogated before resurfacing on Iranian state television.

Following what regional media described as Israel’s deep penetration of Hezbollah’s leadership structure — which allowed the systematic elimination of senior commanders — Iran reportedly launched a formal investigation into potential security breaches.

Sources across the region told local outlets that Qaani and members of his team were placed under isolation and questioned as part of the probe.

More recently, some social media accounts have claimed that the Quds Force commander was executed by the IRGC after being detained on suspicion of acting as a Mossad agent. One widely circulated post alleged that Qaani had survived multiple assassination attempts — including being present with Khamenei during U.S.–Israeli airstrikes — before eventually being taken into custody.

Iranian authorities have reportedly denied the rumors, according to Israeli news website JFeed.