The Iranian Supreme Leader appointed Esmail Qaani as the new al-Quds force chief after the death of its commander on Friday in an American raid on Baghdad airport.
“After the martyrdom of the glorious general Qassem Soleimani, I appoint Brigadier General Esmaïl Qaani commander of the al-Quds force” of the Guardians of the Revolution, said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a statement published on his official website.
Qaani has so far been deputy chief of the Al-Quds Force, in charge of Iran’s foreign operations. Ayatollah Khamenei described him as “one of the most decorated commanders” of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian ideological army, since the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). 
“The orders of the Al-Quds Force remain exactly the same as under the direction of the martyr Soleimani,” continued the supreme guide.
Tens Of Thousands Of Protesters In Tehran
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Tehran on Friday to denounce the American “crimes”, a Nigeria News journalist found. After prayer, a crowd filled the streets of the Iranian capital, chanting “Death to America” and holding up portraits of Qassem Soleimani.
The latter was at the head of the al-Quds force, an entity in charge of external operations within the Guardians of the Revolution, the Iranian ideological army. He was killed early Friday in Baghdad.
Women and men, some of them elderly, marched, notably brandishing portraits of the supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The axis of evil in the United States, the leitmotif of religion and the Koran is death to America”, they chanted in chorus.
“O leader of our Revolution, condolences, condolences”, they continued.
The official agency Irna has reported similar parades in the cities of Arak, Bojnourd, Hamedan, Hormozgan, Sanandaj, Semnan, Shiraz and Yazd.
The death of Soleimani, who in recent years has become a highly public figure in Iran, has also provoked rallies in his hometown, Kerman (centre), according to the same source.
For his supporters as for his detractors, Qassem Soleimani, who played an important role in the fight against jihadists, is the key man of Iranian influence in the Middle East: he reinforced the diplomatic weight of Tehran, in particular by Iraq and Syria, two countries where the United States is engaged militarily.
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