TEHRAN, Jan 3 — Iran’s supreme leader named the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace its commander today after he was killed in a US strike in Baghdad.

“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.

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“I call on the members of the force to be present and cooperate with General Qaani and wish him divine prosperity, acceptance and guidance,” he added. — AFP