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Sunday, October 20, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem fled Lebanon and is now living in Tehran — report
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
An image grab taken from Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV shows the group's deputy chief Naim Qassem delivering a speech from an undisclosed location on October 15, 2024. (AFP/HO/Al-Manar)
Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem has been residing in Tehran after fleeing Lebanon on an Iranian plane over two weeks ago, the UAE-based Erem News outlet reports, quoting an anonymous Iranian source.
Qassem reportedly left Beirut on October 5 on the aircraft used by Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for a state visit to Lebanon and Syria. His transfer was ordered by top leaders of the Islamic Republic for fear of assassination by Israel, the source says.
Qassem has delivered three speeches since the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. While the first was recorded in Beirut, the second and third were delivered in Tehran, the source says.
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