In a decree on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces, appointed Brigadier General Esmaeil Qa’ani as the new commander of the IRGC Quds Force, hours after prominent Iranian commander Major General Soleimani was assassinated in an American attack in Iraq.
In the decree, the Leader paid tribute to late General Soleimani, and appointed Brigadier General Qa’ani as the new IRGC Quds Force commander, whom he described as one of the most prominent military commanders during the Sacred Defense –the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s- and who has served in the Quds Force for many years.
“The plan of that force (IRGC Quds Force) is exactly the same plan under command of Martyr Soleimani,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in the decree, calling on the Quds Force servicemen to cooperate with General Qa’ani.
Major General Soleimani, Deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and a number of their entourage were killed in a strike by American choppers near Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of Friday.
