IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani. Photo: Wikipedia.

Iranian military sources are denying reports that a key commander was wounded in Syria, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement that Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, “is fully healthy and is assisting the Islamic resistance in Syria and Iraq to fight against the Takfiri terrorists spiritedly and fully energetically and powerfully,”

IRGC public relations director General Ramezan Sharif called reports of Soleimani’s injury “sheer lies, spread by international Zionist-affiliated media,” meant to influence public opinion and demoralize the “Resistance Front.”

The pro-Saudi daily Al Arabiya claimed that the reports according to which Soleimani was seriously wounded were confirmed by sources close to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which opposes the regime.

The NCRI source claimed that Soleimani and two of his companions had been wounded 12 days ago during a battle in Aleppo, after being struck by a TOW missile. The NCRI said Soleimani had been evacuated to a hospital in Tehran and was currently undergoing treatment.

The head of the Center of Strategic Studies and International Relations in Tehran, Ami Mousawi, also confirmed on social media that Soleimani was wounded, Al Arabiya reported.