Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had feared that Israel would get to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, just days before the latter was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Khamenei also warned Nasrallah twice to flee Lebanon to Iran after the pager blasts rocked the country.
The Supreme Leader sent a message with an envoy to convince Nasrallah to leave Lebanon. Khamenei cited that he had intelligence reports that suggested Israel had operatives within Hezbollah and was planning to kill him, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
However, Nasrallah was confident in his security and trusted his inner circle completely. He insisted on staying in Lebanon, the official said.
The messenger was a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan. He too died in the air strike that killed Nasrallah as they were together inside the bunker when Israel rained bombs on them.
The assassination of Nasrallah has also stoked fears in Khamenei's mind that Israeli spies would have infiltrated the senior government ranks in Tehran too, three Iranian sources said. Iran also fears for the safety of Khamenei and there is a loss of trust within both Hezbollah and Iranian leadership and between them, the report added.
So much so that Iranian authorities are probing possible infiltrations within their own ranks, including powerful Revolutionary Guards to senior security officials. Those who travel abroad or have relatives living outside Iran have come under the scanner.
Certain members of IRGC who have been travelling to Lebanon are also being investigated. Earlier one person who is said to have asked about Nasrallah's whereabouts was arrested. The person, who was arrested with several others, had earlier inquired about how long Nasrallah would remain in specific locations.
The suspect’s family had relocated outside Iran, the official said, without identifying the suspect or his relatives.
This lack of trust could affect the smooth functioning of Iran’s Axis of Resistance alliance. "Basically, Iran lost the biggest investment it had for the past decades," Magnus Ranstorp, a Hezbollah expert at the Swedish Defense University, told Reuters.
The beating Hezbollah took at the hands of Israel not only damaged its capacity to strike at Israel's borders but also shook Iran to the core.
"It shows how Iran has deeply infiltrated also: they not only killed Nasrallah, they killed Nilforoushan,” he added.
The expert added that this might prompt Iran to return to its earlier tactic of attacking Israeli embassies and personnel abroad.
