Soleimani's death creates power vacuum within Iran

UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky writes: "Qassem Soleimani, former head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, was feared at home and abroad. He held both symbolic and substantive authority. Iran’s supreme leader dubbed him a “living martyr.” Also, while technically serving under the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, he often eclipsed those at the highest ranks of Iran’s Praetorian Guard. While after Soleimani’s death the supreme leader said the Quds Force’s mission “is the same as it was under” his commandership, three areas to watch will be the status of the Quds Force within the IRGC’s top brass, the Ayatollah’s decision-making circle and Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s attempts to assert more control over regional foreign policy."