Reuters: Khamenei Had Asked Nasrallah to Leave Lebanon for Iran After Pager Explosions

Reuters reported, citing 'three Iranian sources', that the leader of the Islamic Republic warned Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah a few days before his death in an Israeli airstrike to leave Lebanon and go to Iran. The report, published on Wednesday, October 3, states that Ali Khamenei is now extremely concerned about Israeli influence at high levels of the Iranian government. An Iranian official told Reuters that immediately after the explosions of Hezbollah pagers on September 18, Khamenei sent a messenger to Lebanon to tell Nasrallah to go to Iran, as security information indicated that Israel had infiltrators within Hezbollah and was planning to kill him. The Iranian official added that Khamenei's special envoy, Abbas Nilforushan, who was the deputy operations chief of the Revolutionary Guards and commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon, was killed in the Israeli attack on Nasrallah's shelter. The Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, which oversees Mossad activities, did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah's death in the Israeli attack. Another senior Iranian official said that Khamenei, who has been moved to a safe location since October 1, personally ordered a missile attack on Israel on the evening of October 2 in retaliation for the killings of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah, and Abbas Nilforushan, as well as Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Islamic Republic's armed forces also stated that any Israeli response would face 'massive destruction'. Meanwhile, Israel began an operation on the evening of October 2, which it described as 'a limited and targeted attack against Hezbollah' in southern Lebanon. Nasrallah was killed after two weeks of targeted Israeli airstrikes on various locations in Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israel claims that in these attacks, it destroyed Hezbollah positions, including the group's missile launch sites, and killed half of its leadership council and all of its senior military commanders. Reuters reports that during discussions with ten sources for this report, concerns in Iran regarding Khamenei's security and the loss of trust both within Hezbollah and at high levels of the Iranian government, as well as between Iran and Hezbollah, were evident. The statements from these sources suggest that this situation could negatively impact the effectiveness of Iran's proxy groups. Hezbollah, founded in 1982 with Iranian support, has gradually become the most powerful part of the 'resistance axis', which is a network of armed proxy groups or those supported by the Islamic Republic. Four Lebanese sources told Reuters that this chaos has also complicated the selection and introduction of a new Hezbollah leader, as there are concerns that continued intelligence infiltration in the group could endanger the life of the new leader. Magnus Ranstorp, a Hezbollah expert at the Swedish Defence University, stated: 'Iran has lost its biggest investment in recent decades, and the blow dealt to this group severely reduces Iran's ability to strike at Israel's borders.' He added: 'The recent Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, particularly the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, have caught Iran completely off guard. These events have shown that an effective network of infiltrators has also penetrated Iran.' Ranstorp noted that the loss of military capabilities and senior officials and leadership of Hezbollah could lead Iran to adopt tactics of attacking embassies and Israeli nationals in other countries, similar to methods used before the rise of proxy groups. Arrests in Iran An Iranian official told Reuters that the killing of Hassan Nasrallah has prompted Iran to initiate extensive investigations into infiltrators within all important institutions, including the Revolutionary Guards and high levels of security agencies. Another Iranian official stated that one of the main focuses of these investigations is officials who travel abroad or have family members residing abroad. Reports from the media about how 'Israeli infiltration' occurred within Hezbollah's structure This Iranian official added that suspicion has increased regarding several members of the Revolutionary Guards who have traveled to Lebanon. This sensitivity began when one of these individuals inquired about the whereabouts of Hassan Nasrallah and specifically the duration of his stay at any location. The Iranian official, without disclosing the name of this individual and their family members, stated that after security agencies became suspicious, this suspect and several others were arrested, and their family has gone abroad. The second Iranian official stated that the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah has caused distrust between Iran and Hezbollah and has fueled distrust within Hezbollah. He added: 'The trust on which everything was built has been destroyed.' A third source close to the Iranian government said: 'The Supreme Leader no longer trusts anyone.' Two sources from Hezbollah and one Lebanese security official stated that following the killing of Foad Shakir, a senior military commander of Hezbollah, in an Israeli attack on a hideout in Beirut in July of this year, alarm bells regarding Mossad's infiltration in Hezbollah were sounded. Just hours after this incident, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's political bureau, was also assassinated in Tehran. Unlike the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Israel publicly claimed responsibility for killing Foad Shakir. Foad Shakir was not very well-known, but Hassan Nasrallah described him at his memorial service as a pivotal figure in the history of Hezbollah's activities, who was a key architect of the group's most important capabilities. The Israeli military stated after his assassination that Foad Shakir played a decisive role in the construction and development of Hezbollah's most advanced weapons and had been the commander of the group's operations against Israel for the past year. Iran's fear of Israeli infiltration at high levels of government and security institutions dates back years. Ahmadinejad: The highest official in the fight against Israel in the Ministry of Intelligence was himself an Israeli spy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of Iran, stated in a 2021 interview with 'CNN Turk' that the head of the special unit combating Mossad in Iran's security institutions was himself an agent of the Israeli foreign security service (Mossad). He added that Israel had been able to obtain very important documents related to Iran's nuclear programs. His reference was to the operations of Israeli agents in 2018, who managed to steal a large volume of classified documents related to Iran's nuclear programs during a raid on a cover warehouse in 'Turqozabad'. Yossi Cohen, former head of Mossad, also revealed more details about this in late 2021, stating that 20 non-Israeli operatives participated in this operation. Warning After the Pager Explosions An Iranian official told Reuters that after the explosion of thousands of pagers and wireless devices belonging to Hezbollah members on September 18 and 19, Ali Khamenei warned Hassan Nasrallah to go to Iran. The explosion of communication devices belonging to Hezbollah has been attributed to Israel, but the country has not yet claimed responsibility for it. According to the Iranian official, despite serious concerns in Iran regarding the potential infiltration of the enemy within Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah had great confidence in security measures and his close circle. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed alongside Hassan Nasrallah, was mentioned. He added that Khamenei sent another message through Abbas Nilforushan last week, again warning Nasrallah and asking him to move to Iran, which is safer. However, it seems that Nasrallah insisted on staying in Lebanon. The Iranian official noted that after the pager explosions, several meetings were held with the presence of senior officials in Tehran regarding the situation of Hezbollah and the security of Hassan Nasrallah. He did not specify which officials attended these meetings. Three sources in Lebanon also told Reuters that simultaneously in Lebanon, Hezbollah began extensive investigations to identify Israeli infiltrators and interrogated hundreds of members of the group. A Hezbollah source stated that Sheikh Nabil Qawuq, one of the senior officials of the group, was responsible for these investigations. This source added that the investigations were progressing rapidly, but he too was killed one day after Nasrallah's assassination in another Israeli airstrike. In the Israeli airstrikes earlier last week, several other senior Hezbollah officials, including those responsible for these investigations, were also killed. According to this Hezbollah source, Sheikh Nabil Qawuq had summoned all members of the group who worked in logistics and others involved in the process of reviewing and purchasing pagers and wireless devices for interrogation. He added: 'After the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and the killing of many Hezbollah commanders, deeper and more comprehensive investigations need to be conducted.' Ali Amin, editor of the news website 'Janoubieh', which focuses on Lebanese Shiites and Hezbollah, stated that reports suggest that after the pager explosions, Hezbollah detained hundreds of individuals for interrogation. Seven sources told Reuters that Hezbollah Lebanon is shaken by the killing of Hassan Nasrallah in the command center of this group and is still unable to comprehend the extent of Israeli infiltration within its ranks. Mohannad Al-Haj Ali, an expert on Iran and Hezbollah at the Carnegie Endowment in Beirut, considers the series of attacks in the past two weeks to be 'the largest case of Israeli intelligence-security infiltration' since the establishment of Hezbollah with Iranian assistance in the early 1980s.