Biography
Tabatabai was born in 1968 in Beirut to an Iranian father and a Lebanese mother. He joined Hezbollah in the 1980s, according to the Israel Defense Forces, as part of its "second generation" of fighters. [4] Hezbollah said that he had participated in military operations since the 1990s, conducting "special operations" against the IDF during its occupation of southern Lebanon in 1993 and 1996. [5]
According to Hezbollah, he managed the area of Khiam between 2000 and 2008, commanding the militant group's activities in the area during the 2006 Lebanon War. After the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, he became involved in developing the Radwan Force. He also oversaw Hezbollah's special forces in Yemen. [5] According to reports, Tabatabai served as a senior officer in Hezbollah's Unit 3800, [6] a unit responsible for training operatives from Shiite militias operating across the Middle East. The unit provides support to relevant groups in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen, and one of its primary missions is to train and assist fighters on the ground. According to reports, before the Gaza war, he was responsible for the Radwan Force's invasion portfolio. [7]
The U.S. United States Department of State designated him on 26 October 2016 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and offered a reward of up to $5 million for information about him. [8] [1]
According to the Alma Research Center, Tabatabai replaced Ali Karaki as commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front following his assassination. He was one of two prominent survivors of the 2024 Lebanon war, together with Muhammad Haydar, who replaced Fuad Shukr. [7] He served as the chief of Hezbollah's operations unit during the war, rising in ranks as other senior leaders were assassinated by Israel. During the 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement, he became Hezbollah's chief of staff and worked to restore the group's readiness for a new war. [9] [4] He was Hezbollah's "second-in-command after Naim Qassem". His extensive military and operational experience contrasted with Haydar, who had a civilian background and lacked operational experience. [7]
Assassination
On 23 November 2025, five Hezbollah members were killed and 28 others were injured in an Israeli strike on the fourth floor of an apartment building in Beirut's Haret Hreik neighborhood. Hezbollah later confirmed that Tabatabai had been assassinated in the attack. [10]
A funeral for Tabatabai and two other Hezbollah members killed in the strike was held in Beirut on 24 November, with hundreds of mourners in attendance. [11]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Lebanon 
Hezbollah