"Prince of Darkness"?

 Michael D'Andrea was known for his prominent role in the search for former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which eventually led to his death, as well as for managing a program to target extremists through drones.

Recently, The New York Times revealed that Dandrea, who worked in charge of the Iran unit in the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), decided to leave his position after the unit was integrated into a regional center in the agency, focusing on the Middle East in general.

The newspaper quoted a senior IAEA official as saying that the termination of Iran's unit does not reflect any decline in the agency's view of Iran's importance or the downplaying of the threat it poses.

He added that "a review of the agency's operations concluded that it is best to analyze Iran within the context of its broader periphery," referring to the Middle East.

However, Yahoo News reported that Dandrea, whom his colleagues describe as "legendary", was forced to retire, according to former CIA officials.

The officials added that D'Andrea had previously obtained exemptions that allowed him to continue working in the agency after the mandatory retirement age, noting that the "CIA" recently refused to renew these exemptions.

Another former agency official told Yahoo News that a small group of senior agency officials who were receiving retirement exemptions were also told not to extend.

Dandrea is currently sixty-four years old. A report by AFP indicates that he converted to Islam and participated strongly in the war against jihadist groups.

D'Andrea, nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness" and also "Ayatollah Mike," was appointed as the head of the Iran unit in 2017, when former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was head of the CIA.

And "Yahoo News" quoted a spokesperson for the agency as saying that Dandrea had "a long and distinguished career in the service of his country." "We are grateful for his leadership on some of the toughest issues we face at the agency," he added.

He added that "CIA officials believe that D'Andrea revolutionized the agency's efforts to hunt down terrorists, particularly the combat drone program."

Dandrea was in charge of the agency's counterterrorism center from 2006 to 2015 where he oversaw the hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US Special Forces raid in Pakistan in May 2011.

D'Andrea also directed the "targeted assassinations" program during the era of former President Barack Obama, a program that allowed the killing of thousands of jihadists along with civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan with drones.

During his tenure, more than 500 strikes were carried out using drones during the Obama administration, killing thousands of militants.

A former senior agency official described Dandrea as "the most lethal leader in the US government during his tenure," and added, "He was a reaper of souls for the enemy."

The "Prince of Darkness"'s dedication to his work was unprecedented, say former officials, who said he often slept in his office and worked 12 or 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

In 2015, a CIA drone strike mistakenly killed an American and an Italian civilian in Pakistan.

Yahoo News says that some officials believe that this incident caused him to be removed from his position as head of the Counter-Terrorism Operations Command that year.