Commander of the Qods Force, the special operations division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); the Qods Force also serves as a conduit for Iranian support to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID).

Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 25, 2007, freezing his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; foreign parties facilitating transactions for the entity or otherwise assisting the entity are subject to U.S. sanctions; identified as a "key person" of the IRGC in an annex to U.N. Security Council resolution 1747 of March 24, 2007, which lists entities of proliferation concern; with some exceptions, the designation requires states to freeze the financial assets on their territories which are owned or controlled by the person, by his agents, or by entities he controls; the designation also requires states to ensure that funds, financial assets or economic resources are prevented from being made available by their nationals or by any persons or entities within their territories, to or for the benefit of the listed person; the resolution calls on states to "exercise vigilance" in allowing the designated person to enter or to transit through their territories, and requires states to notify the Security Council if the person does so; listed by the European Union on March 24, 2007 as a person linked to the IRGC; with some exceptions, European Union member states must freeze all funds and economic resources owned, held or controlled by the listed person, and prevent funds or economic resources from being made available to him; sanctioned by the governments of Norway and Switzerland, restricting business and financial transactions with the listed person and/or freezing his assets in those countries.

Reportedly lived in Tehran; reportedly orchestrated terrorist attacks in Thailand, India, Nigeria, and Kenya; reportedly organized Iraqi militias to conduct attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq; reportedly assisted Hezbollah in a kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in 2006; oversaw the Qods Force officers involved in a 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C.

Iranian citizen; born on March 11, 1957 in Qom, Iran; Iranian diplomatic passport 008827.

Killed in a U.S. airstrike on January 3, 2020.