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Iran’s Quds Force Chief Pens Letter to New Hezbollah Leader Vowing Support to Destroy Israel
Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 14, 2022. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The head of Iran’s elite military force responsible for Iranian proxies and terrorist operations abroad has written a letter to Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, expressing unwavering support in their joint mission to destroy Israel.
“The Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] will remain alongside Hezbollah until the malignant Zionist tree [Israel] is uprooted and Palestine, along with holy al-Quds, is liberated,” Iranian Brigadier General Esmail Qaani wrote in the letter, according to Iranian and Lebanese media.
Another translation from Iran’s state-owned Press TV quoted Qaani — who leads the extraterritorial wing of the IRGC, an internationally designated terrorist organization — as saying to Qassem that “your brothers in the Quds Force will stand by Your Excellency and Hezbollah until the elimination and eradication of the evil lineage of Zionism and the freedom of Palestine.”
Qaani praised the appointment of Qassem as the new leader of Iran’s chief proxy in the Middle East and commemorated his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September after heading the Lebanese terrorist organization for decades.
“By the grace of God, the resplendent and struggle-filled path of the martyrs will continue with more speed and strength under the management and leadership of Your Excellency,” Qaani wrote. “You are a seasoned and honorable fighter, widely respected among the noble fighters in the resistance.”
The Iranian commander added, “I pray to Almighty God that this enlightened and Jihadi path of the martyrs will continue under your leadership with greater strength and resolve.”
Hezbollah officially named Qassem, 67, as its new secretary general on Tuesday. He was appointed as the terrorist group’s deputy chief in 1991 and has been one of its leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media.
Shortly after Qassem’s appointment was announced, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X/Twitter, “Temporary appointment. Not for long,” along with a photo of the new Hezbollah chief as an apparent threat.
The Israeli government wrote a similar message on its official Arabic account on X: “His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors … There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force.”
Over the past several weeks, Israel has intensified its military operations against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, where the terrorist group wields significant influence. Israel has significantly degraded Hezbollah’s rocket and missile stockpiles and killed much of its leadership, including not only Nasrallah but also others expected to replace him.
Hezbollah has been firing drones, missiles, and rockets at northern Israel almost daily since Oct. 8 of last year, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — another Iranian proxy — invaded the Jewish state from the south and launched the ongoing war in Gaza.
About 70,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel amid the relentless Hezbollah attacks. Israel has vowed to do whatever is necessary, including military action, to ensure its displaced citizens can return to their communities.
Meanwhile, Qaani, 71, was reportedly questioned in recent weeks by Iranian authorities about apparent security breaches surrounding the killing of Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon.
According to the Middle East Eye, Iranian authorities have serious suspicions about a major security breach in Qaani’s office but do not seem to believe that Qaani was involved. The news outlet quoted sources as saying that Qaani’s “negligence” and “weak management” had “led to untrustworthy people entering his office,” adding that they may have been the cause of security breaches that led to Nasrallah’s death.
The Algemeiner could not independently verify these claims about potential breaches in Qaani’s office.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.