Leader names new Quds Commander following Gen. Soleimani's martyrdom

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has appointed Esmail Qaani as the new head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force following the martyrdom of General Qassem Soleimani.

"Following the martyrdom of the glorious General Qasem Soleimani, I name Brigadier General Esmail Qaani as the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps," the Leader said in a statement posted on his official website.

In the statement, the Leader described Gen. Qaani as one of the IRGC's most prominent commanders during Saddam's imposed war on Iran, which lasted eight years starting in 1980.

Esmail Qaani was serving as the Quds Force's deputy commander prior to the new appointment on Friday.

The IRGC confirmed earlier on Friday that Gen. Soleimani had been martyred in US airstrikes in Baghdad.

The attack also led to martyrdom of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

SS