Hasan Irlu
{{Short description|Iranian diplomat (1959–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sardar
| honorific_suffix =
| native_name = حسن ایرلو
| native_name_lang = fa
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Iranian ambassador to Yemen
| president =
| term_start = October 17, 2020
| term_end = December 20, 2021
| predecessor = Hasan Alizadeh{{cite web|url=https://en.mehrnews.com/news/28956/Iran-Yemen-ties-will-strengthen-regional-security-president |title=Iran-Yemen ties will strengthen regional security: president |date=July 14, 2008|access-date=March 18, 2025|work=Mehr News Agency}}
| successor = Ali Mohamed Ramadani{{cite web|url=https://www.saba.ye/en/news3363723.htm |title=Foreign Minister receives new Iranian ambassador to Yemen |date=August 27, 2024|access-date=March 17, 2025|work=Saba News Agency}}
| birth_date = {{birth year|1959}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|12|20|1959|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Ray, Imperial State of Iran
| death_place = Tehran, Iran
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial_coordinates =
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| branch = Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
| serviceyears = 1979–2021
| rank =
| unit =
| commands = Quds Force
| battles = Iran–Iraq War
| battles_label =
| awards =
| spouse =
| children =
| relations =
| laterwork =
| signature =
| website =
}}
Hasan Irlu ({{langx|fa|حسن ایرلو}}; 1959{{snd}}December{{nbsp}}20, 2021) was an Iranian diplomat. He served as the Iranian ambassador to Houthi-controlled Yemen from 2020 to 2021. He was a former member of the IRGC's Quds Force, who became the head of its Yemen operations in Iran at the request of Qasem Soleimani.{{cite web|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1205|title=Treasury Sanctions Iran's Envoy in Yemen and University Facilitating Recruitment for Qods Force|date=December 8, 2020|access-date=January 3, 2022|work=United States Department of the Treasury|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224141755/https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1205|url-status=live}}
Early life
Hassan Irlu was born in the city of Ray, in Tehran Province, where he completed his primary studies in Tehran in the Dolab Gate area, then completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Department of International Relations to obtain a doctorate and start his work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Move to Yemen
On October 17, 2020, Iran posted Irlu as its ambassador in Sanaa.{{Cite web|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2020/10/17/Iran-posts-ambassador-in-Houthi-held-Yemeni-capital|title=Iran posts ambassador in Houthi-held Yemeni capital|date=October 17, 2020|website=Al Arabiya English|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512111200/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2020/10/17/Iran-posts-ambassador-in-Houthi-held-Yemeni-capital|url-status=live}} On December 8, 2020, the United States placed Hassan Irlu under terrorism-related sanctions under Executive Order 13224.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-iran-sanctions-idUSKBN28I222|title=U.S. blacklists Iranian envoy, possibly to pressure Yemen's Houthis|newspaper=Reuters|date=December 8, 2020|via=www.reuters.com|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102085115/https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-iran-sanctions-idUSKBN28I222|url-status=live}}
COVID-19 infection and death
On December 21, 2021, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that its envoy to the Houthi militia had died after he returned to the country at the end of last week in poor health after contracting COVID-19. The ministry said in a statement issued by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), that the Iranian ambassador to the National Salvation Government in Yemen, Hasan Irlu, died of infection with the coronavirus, despite medical follow-up. Irlu had been evacuated from Sanaa three days earlier on an Iraqi medical evacuation plane. Official Iranian obituaries said that Hasan Irlu was one of the leaders of the resistance and was a courageous leader, describing him as a martyr who was martyred while performing his mission.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iranian-envoy-evacuated-from-yemen-to-iraq/2451199|title=Iranian envoy evacuated from Yemen to Iraq|website=www.aa.com.tr|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102084905/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iranian-envoy-evacuated-from-yemen-to-iraq/2451199|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-led-coalition-yemen-says-it-helped-evacuate-irans-sick-envoy-2021-12-22/|title=Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says it helped evacuate Iran's sick envoy|newspaper=Reuters|date=December 22, 2021|via=www.reuters.com|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102084903/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-led-coalition-yemen-says-it-helped-evacuate-irans-sick-envoy-2021-12-22/|url-status=live}} Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, was quoted as describing Irlu as a "martyr" and a "chemical warfare veteran" of the Iran-Iraq war and contracted the coronavirus at the embassy and died at dawn after returning in unfavorable conditions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211221-irans-envoy-to-yemen-hasan-irlu-dies-of-covid/|title=Iran's envoy to Yemen Hasan Irlu dies of covid|date=December 21, 2021|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102084911/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211221-irans-envoy-to-yemen-hasan-irlu-dies-of-covid/|url-status=live}} The deputy commander of the IRGC, Ali Fadavi, also named him as a "fighter in the resistance front" accused the United States and its allies of delaying Irlu's evacuation from Sanaa. He had been suffering from respiratory problems because of his exposure to chemical weapons when he was fighting in the Iran-Iraq war.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202112232065|title=Exclusive: US Confirms Deceased Iran Envoy Is Not Wanted IRGC Operator|website=Iran International|access-date=January 2, 2023|archive-date=January 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102084912/https://www.iranintl.com/en/202112232065|url-status=live}}
Attributing him to Abdolreza Shahlai
IRNA wrote in a report that it later removed from its website that Irlu was the same individual as Abdulreza Shahlai.{{Cite web|title=Iran Man In Yemen Suspected To Be IRGC General With $15 Million US Reward|url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/20211222004806|access-date=2022-01-02|website=Iran International|language=en|archive-date=December 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223042042/https://www.iranintl.com/en/20211222004806|url-status=live}} However, the US State Department confirmed that they were two different people and the reward for the arrest of Abdulreza Shahlai still stands.
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irlu, Hasan}}
Category:21st-century Iranian military personnel
Category:Ambassadors of Iran to Yemen
Category:COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen
Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
Category:Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government
Category:Iranian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Category:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War
Category:People from Ray, Iran
Category:21st-century Iranian diplomats
Category:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals