The Iranian regime and Hezbollah have suffered unprecedented blows from Israel over the past year, severely damaging not only their military power but also the nature of the relationships between them. Key officials from both sides, who were partners in security decision-making processes and managing the strategic relationship between Tehran and Beirut, have been eliminated one after another.
The archive photograph published in Iran on Thursday, showing Ali Shadmani and Hassan Nasrallah together, reveals another chapter in this relationship – a chapter that apparently will never return.
According to reports from Iran, Shadmani was eliminated during the war after being appointed to replace Gholam Reza Rashid, who was killed in Israel's opening strike. Shadmani headed the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters, the body responsible for defining reference threats, directing force building, and assessing readiness in routine times. During emergencies, it managed the entire campaign under direct subordination to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. News of his death was published in Iran only yesterday, after reports indicated he was severely wounded in a targeted attack about a week earlier and never recovered.
Shadmani managed a long and distinguished military career. He joined the Revolutionary Guards upon their establishment in 1979, and during the Iran-Iraq War, commanded the Ansar al-Hussein Division. However, the photograph with Hassan Nasrallah reveals how central his role was during the critical period between 2005 and 2016.
Between 2005 and 2012, he held a senior position in the operations division of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, a period that included the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Between 2012 and 2016, he headed the entire division, and subsequently served as deputy coordinator of Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters until he was appointed the headquarters' head.
In this role, Shadmani was responsible for integrating all of Iran's operational plans across different theaters. Therefore, the revelation of a meeting between him and Hassan Nasrallah now exposes another layer in the deep strategic relationship between Tehran and Hezbollah. While Hassan Nasrallah held regular meetings with Quds Force commanders, Khamenei's advisors, and Iran's foreign ministers, it turns out he also met with senior officials in the Iranian chief of staff's operations division. This connection testifies to his high standing in the Iranian regime's decision-making process and Tehran's operational plans.
Hassan Nasrallah served as a strategic link not only for Hezbollah but also for the Iranian regime and managing its relations with Hezbollah. His elimination marked a deep break, both for Tehran and for Hezbollah, which chose to adopt an observer position in the current war. In doing so, the organization made a historic decision that sharply contradicts Hassan Nasrallah's past statements, according to which Hezbollah would enter the campaign alongside Iran if it were attacked.
The Iranian regime will now need to begin a complex process of rehabilitation and reconstruction, not only of the military command apparatus but also of cooperation with Hezbollah. The absence of Shadmani and other senior officials who were eliminated, including Saeed Izadi, head of the Palestinian branch in Quds Force (who, according to reports, was recently also responsible for facilitating Iranian aid to Hezbollah), and Behnam Shahriari, head of the smuggling unit in Quds Force, poses a real challenge. Added to this are also the elimination of Quds Force commander in Lebanon and Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his replacement, Abbas Nilforoushan.
In such a situation, rehabilitating the Iran-Hezbollah axis seems like a particularly challenging task, certainly given the determination Israel demonstrates in preventing any attempt to strengthen Hezbollah's capabilities in the foreseeable future.
The author is an Iran, Hezbollah and Shiite militias researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.
