[2] Syed was born on 14 March 1949 into a family belonging to the Mian (tribe).
Iftikhar Hussain Shah was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in October 1964 in 30th PMA Long Course and joined an anti-aircraft unit of the Regiment of Artillery.
In 1993, Iftikhar Hussain Shah served in the ISI as the Deputy DG of the External Wing of the ISI under Lt Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi.
He was close to General Pervez Musharraf and after retiring he served as Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federal Minister for Communications, and served as Pakistani ambassador to Turkey.
He also worked as the Managing Director of the Zulifqarabad Development Authority (ZDA).