Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem fled to Tehran, according to reports, amid fear of Tel Aviv planning to murder him, Arab-language news sources Erem News and Iraqi Shafaq reported.
Qassem reportedly left Beirut on October 5 on an Iranian flight, which Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was said to have accompanied. Iranian officials at the highest level reportedly ordered Qassem to move, apparently on account of his appearance on an Israeli wanted list. The move comes as Iran seeks to shield other leaders in its regional alliance, called the “Axis of Resistance,” where two heavyweight leaders, one from Hezbollah and another from Hamas, have recently been killed.
Beirut and much of Lebanon have been battered by stepped-up Israeli attacks over the past weeks, thereby making the city even more vulnerable to Hezbollah’s leadership. Dahieh, a suburb, is known to be a Hezbollah stronghold, which has been a mainstay of these strikes as part of Israel’s Operation “Northern Arrows,” which has already resulted in multifold casualties and deaths of senior Hezbollah commanders.
Qassem has appeared in public three times since the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27. While the first speech by Qassem on September 30 was broadcast live from Beirut, the following two speeches on October 8 and October 15 were delivered from Tehran. This represents a shift in the likely operational direction Hezbollah would take to respond to the growing tensions with Israel.
No official statement has been made so far by Hezbollah regarding the murder of Nasrallah or an official name for the new Secretary-General, but Qassem is now seen as Hezbollah’s acting leader in taking the first steps toward leading Hezbollah’s new policy against Israeli forces.
The relocation of Naim Qassem to Tehran suggests Iran is pursuing efforts to ensure the safety and security of regional allies. As the leader of Hezbollah, in theory, Qassem’s relocation implies an endeavor to keep the organization stable and ensure further continuity in its operations, now that Israel has initiated military repression against it.
This is a critical juncture in the war that has developed between the two sides during the coming weeks.
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