Iranian state television broadcast an exclusive interview with the Quds Force commander in the Revolutionary Guards, General Qasem Soleimani, devoted to his role in Lebanon during the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon.
The interview was presented as the first for Soleimani, who is in charge of foreign operations, especially in Syria and Iraq, for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Suleimani explained how he moved to Lebanon via Syria to stand with Hezbollah during the 33-day war.
The general explained that he entered Lebanon at the beginning of the war from Syria, accompanied by a senior military official in Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in 2008 and is considered the architect of the "victory" over Israel during the war.
The Iranian general touched on the incident, which sparked the war, in which a group of Hizbullah on July 12, 2006, "to enter occupied Palestine and attack Zionist armored and captured two wounded soldiers."
During the interview, Soleimani did not mention the presence of other Iranians, only to tell his personal experience, especially through continuous contact with Mughniyah and Hassan Nasrallah.
He said that in the face of escalating Israeli bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, he personally evacuated Nasrallah from his "operating room".
During that night, he and Mughniyah moved Nasrallah from place to place to avoid shelling before returning to their headquarters.