Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday (January 3) appointed Deputy Commander of the Quds Force Esmail Ghaani as the head of the unit after Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike earlier today in Baghdad, local media reported.


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Tasnim News Agency quoted a statement by Khamenei as saying that the force`s programme will remain "unaltered from the time of Ghaani`s predecessor." "Following the martyrdom of glorious General Haj Qasem Soleimani, I name Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani as the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps", Khamenei said, as reported by Sputnik.


Soleimani, a US-designated terrorist, along with six others, were killed in the airstrike carried out by the United States near Baghdad`s international airport. The strike has escalated tensions between the US and Iran, with Tehran vowing to take a "vigorous revenge" for the killing. 


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France has urged its citizens in Iran to stay away from public gatherings and the Netherlands told Dutch nationals to leave Baghdad after the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.


Earlier, Washington had told US citizens to leave Iraq, after Tehran threatened retaliation for the US strike that killed Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force and architect of Iran`s spreading military influence in the Middle East.


"Three days of mourning have been declared after the death of General Soleimani. In this context, we recommend French citizens to stay away from any gatherings and to behave with prudence and discretion and abstain from taking pictures in public spaces," France`s embassy in Tehran said on Twitter.


The Dutch Foreign Ministry told Dutch citizens to leave Baghdad "if that is possible in a safe manner." "Unrest and violence have increased in Baghdad, and around the airport. The situation is unpredictable," the Dutch ministry said in a statement.


Iran threatened to hit back US hard 


Meanwhile, Iran threatened on Friday to hit back hard after a US airstrike in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran`s elite Quds Force and architect of its growing military influence in the Middle East.


Soleimani, a general, was regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The overnight attack, authorised by President Donald Trump, marked a dramatic escalation in a "shadow war" in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.


Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to Soleimani, was also killed in the attack. Iran has been locked in a long conflict with the United States that escalated sharply last week with an attack on the US embassy in Iraq by pro-Iranian militiamen following a US air raid on the Kataib Hezbollah militia, founded by Muhandis.


Responding to the strike, Iraq`s prime minister said Washington had violated a deal for keeping US troops in his country. Israel put its army on high alert and US allies in Europe including Britain, France and Germany voiced concerns about an escalation in tensions.


The Pentagon said the "US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani". Trump ordered the strike to disrupt future Iranian attack plans, it said.


Concern about disruption to Middle East oil supplies, including shipping crude through the Gulf, pushed prices up nearly $3 a barrel. US employees of foreign oil companies in Basra were preparing to leave the country, but Iraq`s oil ministry said output and exports were unaffected.


Khamenei said harsh revenge awaited the "criminals" who killed Soleimani. His death, though bitter, would double the motivation of the resistance against the United States and Israel, he said.


In a statement carried by state television he called for three days of national mourning. Khamenei quickly appointed Soleimani`s deputy, Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, to replace him as Quds Force head. The force`s agenda "will be unchanged from the time of his predecessor," Khamenei said in a statement.


Analysts say Iran is likely to respond forcefully to the targeting of Soleimani, who had survived several assassination attempts against him by Western, Israeli and Arab agencies over the past two decades.


(With ANI/Reuters Inputs)