The United Statescarried out a secret operation in Yemen that targeted, but failed to kill, anIranian military official last week, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday.
The strike wascarried out on the same day that the United States killed Iranian militarycommander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad, the officials said,speaking on condition of anonymity.
The timing couldsuggest that the United States had sought to take out a broader swathe of theIranian military leadership when it killed Soleimani, citing an imminent threatfrom him.
The Pentagondeclined comment on the failed strike in Yemen, first reported by theWashington Post.
"TheDepartment of Defense does not discuss alleged operations in the region,"Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said.
One of the U.S.officials named the Iranian who had been targeted as Abdul Reza Shahlai, asenior officer in the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force, the unit incharge of foreign operations that had been headed by Soleimani.
The U.S. TreasuryDepartment says he was based in Yemen and accused him of "a long historyof targeting Americans and U.S. allies globally," including killingU.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq. It has offered a $15 million reward inconnection with him under its "Rewards for Justice"https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/irgc.html program.
