Commander appointed for al-Quds Force succeeding to Soleimani, international calls for calm

The Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei has appointed the Colonel Ismail Qaani as commander of al-Quds Force to succeed Qassem Soleimani who was killed at dawn on Friday in an American operation.

Khamenei said in a statement published by government media outlets, “The goals of al-Quds Force will remain as they were at the time of the martyr Soleimani's leadership.”

In turn, a US military official confirmed the arrival of American military reinforcements to secure the American embassy in Baghdad.

International reactions continued in response to the American raid, which targeted at dawn on Friday in Baghdad the commander of al-Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Qassem Soleimani.

Netherlands has called on its citizens to leave Baghdad as soon as possible, while Berlin has expressed its “grave concern” after Soleimani's killing, and has called for “De-escalation.”

A German government spokeswoman said on Friday that the US strike in Iraq had been a response to Iranian military provocations.

The British Foreign Secretary ,Dominic Rapp, called on all parties to defuse the tension, and considered that escalating the conflict was not in their interest. He said, “We have always been aware of the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds Force led by Soleimani.”

On Friday, China also called for restraint from all sides, especially the United States after Soleimani's death.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman Jing Shuang said, “We urge the relevant parties, especially the United States to maintain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tension.”

The French embassy in Tehran urged its citizens there, on Friday, to stay away from the public gatherings after the assassination of the Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

The embassy said in a statement on Twitter, “The mourning was declared three days after the killing of General Soleimani."

In this context, we call on the French citizens to get away from any gatherings, and behave wisely and cautiously, and refrain from taking photos in public places.”