Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was born in 1972 in the Bashmaq, a village in Kolah Boz-e Gharbi Rural District, in the Central District of Mianeh County, East Azerbaijan Province. Sayyad Khodaei joined the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) in 1987.[7][8] Later, he was active as a Holy Shrine Defender (Persian: مدافعان حرم, romanized: Modāfe'ān-e-Haram).[9] This phrase refers to those who fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq as part of the Quds Force, responsible for extraterritorial operations. Iranian scientists and academics have been killed or attacked by explosions, bombs, or motorcycle-riding shooters since 2010.[10] Israel has a history of assassinating nuclear scientists inside Iran in the same style.[5] On 27 November 2020, the Israeli government, with knowledge and support from the US government assassinated a top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.[12]