FILE PHOTO: In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi is seen shaking hands with Guard Naval Commander Alireza Tangsiri while visiting an exhibition of Revolutionary Guard naval capabilities in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.
Iranian Presidency Office AP
Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that Iranian naval commander Alireza Tangsiri was killed in a “precision strike” in the port city of Bandar Abbas, accusing him of being responsible for efforts to close the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
IDF Said A social media post said Tangsiri “oversaw maritime terrorism carried out against countries in the Middle East as well as the energy infrastructure of the US and other countries.”
US Central Command later confirmed Tangsiri’s death in a post on Twitter. The death of Tangsiri from the Israeli airstrike “makes the area secure,” said CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper, adding that attacks on the Iranian navy will continue.
Iran has not yet commented on the report.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has virtually halted since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting ships trying to pass through the waterway, with several incidents reported in recent weeks.
With Tangsiri, IDF Said It had killed Behnam Rezai, the head of the Naval Intelligence Directorate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country’s forces are continuing to attack Iranian regime targets.
“Last night, we killed the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy. This man has a lot of blood on his hands, and besides, he is the one who led the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” Netanyahu said. Said According to Google Translate, on
He said, “This is another example of cooperation between us and our friend the United States for the common goal of achieving war objectives.”
Israel earlier said it had killed Iran’s intelligence minister, Ismail Khatib, Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij forces.