Tel Aviv-Yafo [Israel], March 27: An Israeli air strike has killed the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, Israel's defence minister said.
The assassination of Alireza Tangsiri was carried out on Wednesday night and targeted other "senior officers of the naval command", Israel Katz said on Thursday in a video statement.
"The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping was blown up and eliminated," he said.
Since the start of the United States-Israel war on Iran on February 28, Israel has announced the assassination of several top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and security chief Ali Larijani.
The toll on civilians is far heavier.
In almost one month, at least 1,937 people have been killed, including 452 women and children, Iran's Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera. In addition, at least 24,800 people have been injured, including 4,000 women and 1,621 children, Jafarian added.
Earlier, Al Jazeera reported on the latest victims - two teenage boys who were killed in Shiraz.
Al Jazeera's Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said Tangsiri was a "well-known commander" who was instrumental in shaping the country's naval doctrine underpinning its strategy in the Strait of Hormuz.
"He's been commander of the navy for years, the IRGC's navy, and he's known to have worked a lot on developing the posture and the technicalities of this navy," Hashem said. "He's also responsible for developing drones for military maritime use," Hashem added that in recent weeks, Tangsiri had been in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, directly overseeing Iran's efforts to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz by blocking some vessels.
He said Tangsiri's social media accounts had also been posting updates on which ships were permitted to pass through the strait, moves that have contributed to a global surge in energy prices.
"He was one of those commanders who survived the two waves of assassinations, the one in 2025 and the one in 2026," Hashem said. "But at the end, he was killed in Bandar Abbas. At least this is what the Israeli reports are saying." Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said the assassination of Alireza Tangsiri "makes the region safer," and added in a post on X that US forces have destroyed about 92 percent of Iran's large naval vessels in ongoing operations.
Source: Qatar Tribune
