A former top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s body was not injured by large bunker-buster bombs that Israel dropped on an underground hideout.
Media in Tehran quote General Abdolfateh Ahvazian as saying that “What we are certain of at the moment is that Martyr Nasrallah’s body was not hit by shrapnel, but his ring shattered due to the intensity of the explosion's shockwave.”
However, he expressed suspicion that Israel might have also used cyanide gas in the bombs poisoning those hiding as deep as 90 feet under a six-story building in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 28. Ahvazian added that autopsies on others who died in the bunker can shed light on whether a poisonous gas was used. The reason many have not buried yet could be a delay for such examinations, he said.
The IRGC general admitted that the sheer shockwave from the explosions would have been enough to kill people in the bunker by bursting their arteries and veins, without any shrapnel injuries.
According to Israeli media, the Hezbollah leader died a slow and painful death from toxic gas inhalation in an unventilated bunker. Lebanese authorities said Nasrallah’s body was removed intact from the blast scene on Saturday, adding that his death was caused by blunt trauma.
Source close to the Lebanese group have said that his remains are being kept at a secret site. “Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried until the circumstances allow for a public funeral,” AFP quoted the unnamed source as saying.
Ahvazian also made comments about the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. He argued that Israel could have killed Haniyeh in many other Sunni countries he often visited, but they decided to assassinate him in Iran, a Shia country, to sow discord among Muslims.
The double-killing of the two militant leaders considered Tehran’s allies and proxies, put political pressure on Iran to respond and avoid being seen as weak and ineffectual in the face of Israeli attacks. Tehran finally launched a large missile attack on Israel on October 1, which was in fact largely ineffective with no Israeli casualties.
Ahvazian, while condemning the “cowardly manner” in which Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israel, stated: "Never before in history has there been an instance where nearly 85 tons of bunker-buster and anti-fortification bombs were dropped in one location, leveling six six-story buildings and sending the shockwave dozens of meters underground."
"We support efforts for a ceasefire on the condition that it would be acceptable to the Lebanese people, acceptable to the resistance, and thirdly, it would be synchronized with a ceasefire in Gaza," he said.
Araghchi's Friday visit to Lebanon comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with airstrikes hitting near Beirut's airport overnight and ongoing Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Marking his first official visit to Lebanon since assuming office, Araghchi stressed Iran's unwavering support for Hezbollah, stating that his presence in Beirut, despite the bombings, reflects this commitment. "Iran will always stand with the people of Lebanon," he tweeted.
Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, also announced via Twitter that the delegation would deliver 10 tons of food and medicine as humanitarian assistance to Lebanon.
Iranian state media reported that the visit has a dual purpose: to support the Resistance—Tehran’s term for militias it backs in the region—and to preserve political and diplomatic processes. "Araghchi's visit to Beirut, following the change in government and his participation in the UN General Assembly with a firm anti-Israel stance, signals that the Islamic Republic of Iran's policy will remain steadfast, even in the face of new circumstances," Fararu wrote.
During his trip, Araghchi met with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah. In meetings with Lebanese officials, Araghchi emphasized the need for global unity to prevent the region from falling into an "imposed and unwanted war," warning against the repetition of "Israel’s heinous crimes in Gaza" in Lebanon, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.
Tensions in the region have sharply escalated since September when Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced an expansion of military operations targeting Hezbollah in northern Israel and Lebanon. Gallant said the action was necessary for the safe return of civilians displaced by Hezbollah attacks since October 8.
On September 17 and 18, around 1,500 Hezbollah fighters were severely injured by explosions caused by tampered pagers and walkie-talkies. This added to the growing conflict.
The situation worsened earlier this week when Iran entered the arena again to launch missile strikes on Israel in retaliation for the deaths of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. As tensions continue to rise, Israel has promised further retaliation, sparking fears of potential strikes on Iran’s oil or nuclear facilities.
IRGC General Esmail Kowsari, who is currently a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, told Didban Iran website in Tehran: "Although the Lebanese Hezbollah is capable of confronting the IDF, we welcome the deployment of volunteer forces to Lebanon from Iran."
Kowsari also promised that Israel's spies and infiltrators in Lebanon will be identified and punished. Following the death of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut in an Israeli strike last week, some hardliners in Iran, including the former head of the international affairs department of Khamenei's office and former lawmaker and intelligence officer Mohammad Hassan Asafari insisted that volunteers from Iran should be deployed to Lebanon.
Hardliners in Iran made similar claims last year, vowing to send millions of volunteers to Gaza following the October 7 attack on Israel and the outbreak of war. However, reaching Gaza was physically impossible at the time. Now, in response to these renewed statements, Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic are pointing out that the road to Lebanon is open, and those who truly “volunteer” should have no hesitation in going.
Meanwhile, videos circulating on social media showed banners calling for the deployment of Iranian combatants through Tehran airport. A viewer who shared one of these videos with Iran International TV mentioned that buses were on-site to transport volunteers to the airport, but no actual deployment plan seemed to be in place upon arrival.
Kowsari further opined that Israeli forces are not capable of being involved in military actions in two fronts in Gaza and Lebanon, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
Another IRGC General Morteza Rafighdoost, who was the Islamic Republic's IRGC Minister from 1982 to 1988, said in an interview that "All options including deploying military forces from Iran to Lebanon and the Golan Heights in Syria is on Iran's agenda."
Rafighdoost claimed that "Iran has the manpower for decades of war against all the world powers." He also stated that Iran does not need the support of Russia or China in its confrontation with Israel. Furthermore, he boasted that Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack on Israel had brought joy to "hundreds of millions of people" worldwide, despite widespread condemnation of the attack and evidence showing that many missiles failed to hit their targets.
Meanwhile, aviation experts on social media criticized Iranian officials for not clearing the country's airspace before launching the October 1 attack. Videos on social media show passenger aircraft changing route over Urmia and landing in Shiraz against a backdrop of missiles flying in the sky despite the obvious danger for civilians. In the meantime, some failing missiles dropped in areas including Zanjan near Tehran.
In another interview, IRGC General Nosrat Ahvazian claimed that at least two million Iranians were ready to be deployed to Lebanon to fight Israel. However, in the same interview, he dismissed Israeli officials’ promises of a major retaliatory attack on Iran following Tehran's ballistic missile strike on Tuesday night. Interestingly, despite initially citing the two million figure, Ahvazian later stated that 400,000 Iranian "resistance fighters" were prepared for deployment to Lebanon, contradicting his earlier claim.
Ahvazian who led a secret IRGC headquarters during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, further claimed that tens of Iranian youths call him over the phone every day and beg to be deployed to Lebanon.
In a more strange comment, Ahvazian said that the reason why Israeli forces have attacked Lebanon is that they want to flee Gaza where they have a hard time fighting Hamas.
These and similar remarks about Iranians' willingness to fight in Lebanon seem to be part of the IRGC's psychological operations aimed at masking their own and the public’s fear of an impending major strike on Iran’s infrastructure, as promised by Israeli officials.