Senior Iranian official reveals internal criticism of IRGC for regional blows

A former representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei revealed on Thursday that regional setbacks have stoked high-level criticism of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the leader of its foreign operations Esmail Qaani.

"Now that Syria has fallen, some say, ‘What kind of Quds Force is this, and Qaani is incapable," Ali Shirazi told news website Khabar online, which described the discussions as having occurred in so-called revolutionary circles.

Citing the fall of the Assad dynasty in Syria to hardline Sunni Islamist rebels, Shirazi related that criticism centers around comparing Qaani to his fearsome predecessor.

"Where is Haj Qasem? What would have happened if he had been [alive]?" he said, referring to the former IRGC Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020.

Shirazi, a senior cleric, was Khamenei's representative at the Quds Force when Soleimani led it. He now serves as an enforcer of Islamic revolutionary ideology in the defense ministry.

"If tomorrow a movement emerges in Syria and it recovers, they will say, 'See? We told you Qaani is better than Haj Qasem!'" Shirazi added. "So let’s not rush to conclusions and think carefully."

Following Assad's ouster in December, some Iranian ultra-hardliners online blamed the fall of Tehran's longtime ally on Qaani and the Revolutionary Guards.

Israel appeared to gain the initiative in a 15-month region-wide fight with Iran and its proxies when it hit out at the leadership of Lebanon's Hezbollah late last year and launched air strikes on Iran which knocked out much of its air defenses.

Following the assassination by Israel of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Qaani was not immediately seen in public and some commentators assessed that he had fallen from official favor. His appearances have been few in the following months.

Both former President Joe Biden and successor Donald Trump said Iran is much weakened by Israel's blows - something Khamenei has emphatically denied.

"When the Imam (Khomeini) passed away, some people in this very country said, 'It's over,'" Shirazi continued. "But now, all political groups in the country say, 'We have no one better than the Master (Khamenei).'"

"It’s true that (Qaani) was in the Quds Force and should have been further along," Shirazi added, saying that he counseled critics not to be patient and not too harsh.