Dead? Detained? Fate of IRGC general stokes confusion, dark humor

Days after media outlets suggested a top Iranian commander was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, new reports citing regional sources said on Thursday that Esmail Qaani is alive but being detained by authorities for potential espionage.

The whipsawing accounts left Iran-watchers bewildered about the strange fate of the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force and whether the living embodiment of Iran's might abroad might be an Israeli turncoat.

Independent news outlet Middle East Eye reported on Monday that Qaani had been detained and was being questioned as the Islamic Republic seeks to understand how Israel was able to infiltrate its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and assassinate top leaders.

Sky News Arabia, citing Iranian sources, went further, saying Qaani suffered a heart attack while being questioned and that Iranian investigations centered around his chief of staff, named as Ehsan Shafiqi, and his possible communications with Israel.

Qaani has not been seen in public since an huge Israeli air strike on Beirut killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.

Some media reports suggested he might have been attending a meeting with his successor Hashem Safieddine when he too was targeted in a bombardment on Oct. 3, but an advisor to IRGC commander-in-chief asserted on Wednesday that Qaani was "in perfect health" and would receive a military medal of honour from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "in the next few days."

The swirl of conflicting information has sparked attempts at analysis and, inevitably, morbid jokes.

"Rescuing the hostages and citizens of any country is the duty of the government of that country, and now it is the moral duty of Israel to go and rescue Qaani," quipped an Iranian X user.

Another depicted Qaani gazing up reverently at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and saluting him in Hebrew: "Shalom."

More sober, Iranian journalist Behrang Rahbari opined, "Whether Qaani is a spy or not, one thing is certain: the collapse of the security structure of the Islamic Republic and this means the collapse of the system."

Deploying image editing prowess, one user depicted Qaani in a full Israeli military uniform complete with Jewish religious kippah cap and chided, "I mean, from Soleimani to Haniyeh and Nasrallah, all that was your work?! Forgive me, friend! :)"

Similarly, Iranian activist Amin Pouria portrayed Qaani alongside Israeli and American honchos in uniform, Hebraizing his name to Ishmael Kahani.