Hezbollah has named Naim Qassem as its new leader, elevating the former deputy to succeed Hassan Nasrallah at the helm of the Iran-backed terrorist group.

“Hezbollah’s Shura Council agreed to elect … Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah,” the terror organization announced Tuesday in a statement.

While Hashem Safieddine, who led Hezbollah’s executive council, was initially viewed as Nasrallah’s likely successor, those prospects ended with his death in an Israeli strike on southern Beirut in October.

A founding member from Hezbollah’s creation in 1982, Qassem rose to become Nasrallah’s deputy when the terror organization entered Lebanese politics in the early 1990s. While Nasrallah led the terrorist group for 30 years through video appearances, Qassem became its public face, continuing to make appearances after the 2006 war with Israel drove Nasrallah deeper into seclusion.

Since Nasrallah’s death in a September 27 Israeli airstrike, Qassem had been serving in an acting capacity. He has already addressed the public three times, notably speaking in formal Arabic rather than the Lebanese dialect favored by his predecessor.