Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, who confirmed the development on Thursday, stated that Tangsiri was “directly responsible for the terrorist act of bombing and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Israeli government has announced the killing of Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in what it described as a targeted military operation.
Confirming the development on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz alleged that Tangsiri was “directly responsible for the terrorist act of bombing and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.”
Katz further claimed that the naval commander was “blown up” along with several other senior naval officials, whose identities have yet to be fully disclosed. The development was reported by BBC.
Tangsiri, a senior military figure within Iran’s naval command structure, was appointed commander of the IRGC Navy in 2018 after serving as deputy commander of the force since 2010.
Iranian authorities had not issued an official response to the reported strike at the time of filing this report.
Tangsiri had been known as a vocal critic of Western influence in the Middle East. Since March 10, an account attributed to him on X had posted frequent warnings regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
In one of his recent posts, he warned that “no vessel associated with the aggressors against Iran has the right to pass through” the strategic waterway.
In 2019, he also threatened that Iran would shut down the Strait of Hormuz if the country’s oil exports were disrupted by international sanctions. Later that year, the United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Tangsiri and other IRGC commanders after Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone near the strait.
For more details, see the live coverage from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cre0vl84qy9t