Former 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).

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.

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; subsequently designated by U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 (2015); removed from the U.N. list on October 18, 2023, following the expiration of targeted sanctions contained in resolution 2231.

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;

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.