Position: Quds Force’s commander in Yemen (unit 400).

Background: He oversees the strong connection with the Houthis, including weapon supply, training, intelligence gathering and operations. On the night of the US airstrike to eliminate Soleimani, Shahlaei was the second target with an airstrike in Yemen around the same time, but he escaped in time.

He has a long history of targeting Americans and U.S. allies globally. For example: Multiple assassinations of coalition forces in Iraq, provided weapons and explosives to Shia extremist groups, planned the 20/01/2007 attack in Karbala, Iraq, that killed five U.S. soldiers and wounded three others. As a financier and senior IRGC official, Shahlaei funded and directed the plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. in 2011. He also planned follow-on attacks inside the United States and elsewhere. Had this scheme succeeded, as many as 200 innocent civilians in the United States could have been killed.