The Iranian regime has confirmed that Hassan Irlu, its envoy for Yemen, which is currently controlled by the Houthi terrorist group, has died following his transfer to Iran. The regime’s ambassador had his real identity confirmed on December 22, following much speculation. Iranian state media confirmed that he is actually Brig. General Abdolreza Shahla’i, a commander of the Yemen division of the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC) Quds Force.
The state-run Roydad-e 24 media outlet wrote that he had died due to the Covid-19 virus, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcing his death and calling him a ‘martyr’.
Roydad-e 24 stated, “There is little or no information of Irlu’s life, and there are not many photos of him. Interestingly, like his life, his death was also mysterious.”
According to Iran’s state media, Hassan Irlu was appointed as the ambassador to Yemen in September 2021, after an official announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic.
The regime heavily funds the Houthis and recognizes them as the legitimate government of Yemen, so Irlu was based at the regime’s embassy in the city of Sanaa, which has been under control of the Houthis since 2015.
According to Iranian state media, Irlu was greatly praised by Yemeni government officials, who referred to him as ‘the most influential figure in Yemen’. Some officials have gone so far as to say that he was ‘the absolute ruler of Houthi-controlled territories’.
Messages of condolence on the news of Irlu’s death have come in from many people affiliated with the regime, including Mostafa Vosough Kia, the cultural secretary of the Mehr News agency, who is affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), who referred to Irlu’s real name in his message.
One of the regime’s MPs based in Tehran, Ahmad Naderi posted a message on Twitter to commemorate Irlu. He wrote, “The martyrdom of Haj Hassan Irlu, Iran’s active ambassador to Yemen, is a severe pain in the ‘resistance’s’ heart.”
Despite Irlu’s cause of death being the result of contracting the Covid-19 virus, Naderi openly accused Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries, of assassinating him.
The NCRI said, “The name of Shahla’i surfaced in 2011, as the interlocutor with Iranian agents in the US ordered to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S.”
The U.S. State Department stated that Shahla’i, under his role as a financier and a senior IRGC official, funded $5 million dollars to the plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington D.C. It is believed that he was also planning follow-on attacks inside the United States, and other countries.
Reuters reported in January 2020 that Shahla’i had managed to escape the United States drone strike, which took place at the same time as the drone strike that eliminated the Quds Force’s top commander Qassem Soleimani.
Following his escape, the U.S. State Department put out a £15 million reward in order to gain information of Shahlai’s whereabouts, stating that he had, “a long history of targeting Americans and U.S. allies globally.”
Source » iranfocus