Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani under suspicion as Israeli spy, reportedly missing
Tehran: Iran’s Quds Force commander, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, has reportedly disappeared after his recent visit to Lebanon, sparking allegations that he may be a Mossad agent.
Qaani, who travelled to Lebanon following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, has not been seen or heard from since. Sources cited by The Sun claim that Qaani is currently under house arrest and is being interrogated on suspicions of espionage for Israel.
Officials indicate that Qaani was in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Dahiyeh, during a strike aimed at senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, although he was not meeting Safieddine at the time.
Esmail Qaani assumed leadership of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani in 2020. His role involves managing Tehran's paramilitary allies across the Middle East and globally.
However, his influence has not reached the same levels as his predecessor, and Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah have faced mounting pressure, particularly from Israeli forces, under his command.
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Four Iranian crew on boat caught with Rs 5 cr foreign cigarettes off Gujarat coast
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Indian Coast Guard has intercepted a foreign boat in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat and apprehended four Iranian nationals after seizing 200 cartons of foreign brand cigarettes valued nearly Rs 5 crore, the ICG said on Sunday.
The operation was carried out on Saturday off the Dwarka coast where a vessel, identified as Al Mukhtar and manned by four Iranian crew, was found concealing 200 cartons containing about one lakh packets of foreign brand cigarettes.
The international market value of the consignment is estimated at Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 5 crore, the ICG said in a post on X.
The boat was being escorted to Porbandar in Gujarat for further investigation and joint interrogation of the crew by security agencies, it added.
"On 21 Feb 26, @IndiaCoastGuard ship intercepted a suspicious foreign boat inside the #Indian #EEZ, approximately 115 NM west of #Dwarka. The vessel, identified as Al Mukhtar, was manned by four #Iranian crew. On rummaging, 200 cartons containing about one lakh packets of foreign brand cigarettes were discovered concealed in the holds," it said.
Earlier, the ICG and Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in a joint operation on February 16 apprehended two Iranian nationals with more than 200 kg of suspicious narcotics off the Gujarat coast.
