Esmail Qaani has been named as the new head of Iran's Quds Force after his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US strike. Qaani had joined Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 1980. He was described by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as one of the "most decorated commanders" of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.