Iran’s Quds Force commander, Brigade General Esmail Qaani, in Syria’s Aleppo. Via Twitter.
On February 8, Iran’s Quds Force commander, Brigade General Esmail Qaani, paid a surprise visit to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which was badly hit by the recent earthquake.
Footage from the disaster-struck city showed the Iranian commander inspecting aid work at one of the shelters which were set up for people who were displaced by the earthquake.
Qaani succeeded former Quds Force commander Brigade General Qassam Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on the Baghdad Airport in January 2020. The force is the foreign operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
More than 3,100 were killed as a result of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Syria, including at least 390 in Aleppo city alone. The earthquake originated in southern Turkey, where more than 9,000 people were killed.
Iran was among the first countries to send humanitarian aid to Syria, along with Russia, Iraq, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Tunisia.
The shelter visited by Qaani was reportedly opened with direct help from Iran. The commander met with aid workers and some of the displaced families staying there during his visit.
The devastating earthquake added to the problems of Syria, which is already exhausted by more than a decade of war and Western sanctions.
Qaani’s visit to Aleppo reflects Iran’s commencement to its alliance with Syria. Tehran has been providing Damascus with military, economic and humanitarian support since the outbreak of the war. The visit will likely provoke Israel who considers Quds Force to be the top threat in the Middle East to its security.
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