Iran’s Soleimani purportedly gives newspaper interview

(NOW)- Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani has purportedly spoken with an Iranian newspaper amid reports he was injured in Syria.

In an interview Sunday with Al-Waqt, Soleimani praised former Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi, who died in the September 24 stampede in Mecca that left at least 2,000 people dead.

“Roknabadi played an important role in safeguarding Lebanon's integrity against the Zionist regime's savage bombings during the 33-day war in summer 2006,” the Iranian military leader supposedly told the newspaper following Roken Abadi’s November 27 funeral in Tehran.

Soleimani also denied reports he had been injured or killed in Syria, saying that he has been seeking martyrdom “in all plains and mountains.”

Iranian authorities have strenuously denied rumors Soleimani was hurt, while the country’s semi-official press outlets have published photos purporting to show the enigmatic Iranian commander in Aleppo in recent days.

However, no photos have been released yet showing Soleimani at Roken Abadi’s funeral, which was attended by thousands of mourners in the Iranian capital on Friday.

AFP on November 25 reported that the Quds Force commander had been injured in the ongoing fighting south of Aleppo, where IRGC troops and Iraqi militias have been leading an offensive on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime against rebels.

A Syria security source told the news agency he had been injured in southwest Aleppo, while Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman claimed Soleimani had been “lightly injured three days ago in the Al-Eis area in the south of Aleppo province.”

Meanwhile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran—an advocacy group that opposes the ruling clerical authorities in Tehran—said on November 29 that Soleimani “has suffered severe shrapnel wounds, including in the head, while at Aleppo’s southern front two weeks ago.”

“Qassem Soleimani’s vehicle that was there for him to oversee an operation by the revolutionary guards and a number of hired forces was targeted by the Free Syrian Army severely injuring Soleimani.”

The NRC-I added that Soleimani had been rushed to Damascus for an initial round of treatment, before being transported to Tehran, where he is now in an intensive care unit.