Iran names Esmail Qaani new Quds chief after Soleimani’s death

Qaani was described by Khamenei as one of the “most decorated commanders” of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Iran’s supreme leader named the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace its commander Friday after he was killed in a US strike in Baghdad.

Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the newly appointed commander of the country's Quds Force, is seen in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained January 3, 2020. (VIA REUTERS)

Qasem Suleimani, regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an overnight attack by the US. Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack.

“Following the martyrdom of the glorious general haj Qasem Soleimani, I name Brigadier General Esmail Qaani as the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement posted on his official website.

Qaani was described by Khamenei as one of the “most decorated commanders” of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

“The orders for the (Quds) force remain exactly as they were during the leadership of martyr Soleimani,” said the supreme leader.

Earlier in the day, the US embassy advised its citizens to leave “Irag immediately”. The advisory came soon after Iran vowed “severe revenge” for Qasem Soleimani’s killing.

The US Defence Department said it killed Soleimani because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”. It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.