Abdulreza Shahlai

Abdul Reza Shahla'i (Persian: عبدالرضا شهلایی) is an Iranian military officer with the rank of brigadier general who serves as the commander of the Yemen division of Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Abdul Reza Shahla'i
Nickname(s)Hajj Yusef[1]
Yusuf Abu-al-Karkh[1]
Bornc. 1957 (age 65–66)[1]
Iran[2]
AllegianceIran
Service/branchIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Years of service1980–present
RankBrigadier general[3]
UnitQuds Force
Battles/warsYemeni Civil War

Designation as a terrorist by the US

Shahlai is classified by the US government as a terrorist for his funding of terror groups and his links to attacks on US troops in Iraq, including a 2007 raid that killed five US soldiers in Karbala.[4] Other alleged attacks led by Shahlai include a failed assassination attempt on the Saudi ambassador in Washington DC, Adel Al-Jubeir.[1] As such, the US State Department has put a US$15 million bounty on Shahlai, through the Rewards for Justice Program, for information leading to his whereabouts.[2][5]

2020 assassination attempt by the US

On the night of 3 January 2020, the US military attempted to assassinate Shahlai via drone strike in conjunction with the assassination of the head of the Quds Force Qasem Soleimani in the Baghdad International Airport airstrike. The drone strike in Sana'a, where Shahlai was based, failed to kill him but did lead to the death of lower-ranked IRGC member Mohammad Mirza. This is the first combat death the Quds Force has acknowledged in Yemen.[6]

On 10 January, the US State Department admitted to the attempted assassination of Shahlai but did not announce it on the same date as the Soleimani assassination because the Shahlai assassination was unsuccessful. This led to speculation the 3 January drone strikes were wider decapitation hits aimed at taking out the Quds Force leadership.[7][8]

Death rumor

An Islamic Republic News Agency report initially called COVID-19 victim Hasan Irlu a repatriated Qods Corps officer and Iranian envoy to Yemen, Shahlai.[9][10]

See also

References
  1. "Treasury Sanctions Five Individuals Tied to Iranian Plot to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States", United States Department of the Treasury, 22 November 2019, archived from the original on 23 December 2021, retrieved 22 November 2019
  2. "Act of Terror: Information on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps". Rewards for Justice. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  3. Seliktar, Ofira; Rezaei, Farhad (2019), Iran, Revolution, and Proxy Wars, Springer Nature, p. 212, ISBN 9783030294182
  4. "US offering $15 million for info on Iranian planner of 2007 Karbala attack that killed 5 US troops". Military Times. 5 December 2019.
  5. "US targeted Iranian official in Yemen in failed strike". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  6. Emmons, Alex (2020-01-10). "U.S. Strike on Iranian Commander in Yemen the Night of Suleimani's Assassination Killed the Wrong Man". The Intercept. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  7. Haltiwanger, John. "Trump tried and failed to kill another top Iranian military leader the same day of the deadly strike on Soleimani, US officials say". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  8. "US tried to kill Iranian commander in Yemen same night as Soleimani strike: Officials". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  9. "Iran says envoy repatriated from Yemen dies of COVID-19". Reuters. 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  10. "Iran Man In Yemen Suspected To Be IRGC General With $15 Million US Reward". Iran International. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
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