Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced the replacement of Qassem Soleimani after he was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
Iran’s state media said Friday that Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani will succeed Soleimani as the Quds force’s chief commander, according to Reuters. Ghaani was previously the deputy commander of the Quds force.
Khamenei claimed that the Quds force would “be unchanged from the time of his predecessor” under the new leadership of Ghaani. The Quds force, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, is a paramilitary force used by Iran to project force in other parts of the Middle East.
The U.S. killed Soleimani Thursday in an airstrike in Iraq. The chief commander was responsible for hundreds of American deaths in the Middle East.
The attack by the U.S. came in response to Iranian-back militias attempting to breach the U.S. embassy in Iraq. President Trump promised Tuesday that America would issue a strong response to the militia attacks.
