IRGC general says Nasrallah’s body was intact after Israeli strike

A former top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s body was not injured by large bunker-buster bombs that Israel dropped on an underground hideout.

Media in Tehran quote General Abdolfateh Ahvazian as saying that “What we are certain of at the moment is that Martyr Nasrallah’s body was not hit by shrapnel, but his ring shattered due to the intensity of the explosion's shockwave.”

However, he expressed suspicion that Israel might have also used cyanide gas in the bombs poisoning those hiding as deep as 90 feet under a six-story building in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 28. Ahvazian added that autopsies on others who died in the bunker can shed light on whether a poisonous gas was used. The reason many have not buried yet could be a delay for such examinations, he said.

The IRGC general admitted that the sheer shockwave from the explosions would have been enough to kill people in the bunker by bursting their arteries and veins, without any shrapnel injuries.

According to Israeli media, the Hezbollah leader died a slow and painful death from toxic gas inhalation in an unventilated bunker. Lebanese authorities said Nasrallah’s body was removed intact from the blast scene on Saturday, adding that his death was caused by blunt trauma.

Source close to the Lebanese group have said that his remains are being kept at a secret site. “Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried until the circumstances allow for a public funeral,” AFP quoted the unnamed source as saying.

Ahvazian also made comments about the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. He argued that Israel could have killed Haniyeh in many other Sunni countries he often visited, but they decided to assassinate him in Iran, a Shia country, to sow discord among Muslims.

The double-killing of the two militant leaders considered Tehran’s allies and proxies, put political pressure on Iran to respond and avoid being seen as weak and ineffectual in the face of Israeli attacks. Tehran finally launched a large missile attack on Israel on October 1, which was in fact largely ineffective with no Israeli casualties.

Ahvazian, while condemning the “cowardly manner” in which Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israel, stated: "Never before in history has there been an instance where nearly 85 tons of bunker-buster and anti-fortification bombs were dropped in one location, leveling six six-story buildings and sending the shockwave dozens of meters underground."