Replacement named for Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani as the successor of Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani as the Commander of the IRGC Quds Forces., to replace him as head of the country’s Quds Forces.

The new commander used to act as the chief deputy for Lieutenant General Soleimani who was assassinated by the US forces in Baghdad on Friday morning.

The full text of the message published in the Supreme Leader’s website at Khamenei.ir reads as follows:

“In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Following the ascension of the Supreme Martyr, Major General Qasem Soleimani the great commander of the IRGC’s Quds Forces, the commandership of the Quds Forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps to Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, who has been one of the most prominent commanders in the Holy Defense and has served in the Quds Force with the martyr commander in the area for many years.

The force’s program “will be unchanged from the time of his predecessor”.

I would like to thank all of those colleagues for their presence and cooperation with Commander Qaani, and I wish them success, approval and divine guidance.

The senior commander of the IRGC’s Quds Forces Major General Qasem Soleimani was martyred in a terrorist operation in Baghdad Friday morning, according to official media reports confirmed by the IRGC.