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A Look at Three Decades of Iran's Secretive Quds Force

RFE/RL's Morad Veisi

   Within hours of the U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani on
   January 3, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced the
   appointment of a successor to head the Revolutionary Guards' secretive
   Quds Force.

   The speed of the announcement appeared to be aimed at sending a message
   of continuity.

   "The force's mission is exactly the same as it was under the command of
   the martyr Soleimani," Khamenei said.

   If the Quds Force's mission doesn't change, as the supreme leader
   suggests, its work will likely be based on the histories and influences
   that have acted on its commanders -- including its new one, Ismail
   Qaani.

   Here is a look at some of those complex influences within the Quds
   Force.

   Quds within Iran's Armed Forces

   The Quds Force is one of eight branches of the Islamic Revolutionary
   Guards Corps (IRGC).

   The others are the Ground Resistance Force, commanded by Mohammad
   Pakpour; the Air Force, commanded by Amir Ali Hajizadeh; the Navy,
   commanded by Alireza Tangsiri; the volunteer Basij militia, commanded
   by Gholamreza Soleimani; Intelligence, commanded by Hossein Taeb;
   Counterintelligence, commanded by Mohammad Kazemi; and Security,
   commanded by Fathollah Jomeiri.

   All eight units operate under the leadership of IRGC commander in chief
   Major General Hossein Salami and his deputy, Ali Fadavi.

   But the Quds Force's commander effectively operates within a parallel
   structure and is solely accountable to Iran's supreme leader.

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