Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the naval forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is the latest senior Iranian military figure targeted by Israel in its month-long bombardment of Iran.
Tangsiri had been leading Iran’s successful effort to close the Strait of Hormuz to almost all shipping traffic, causing serious economic disruption worldwide and raising the cost of the Iran campaign for the United States, Israel’s partner in the war.
Israel said it had killed Tangsiri in a strike on Thursday; Iran has not commented.
It was not immediately clear what effect Tangsiri’s death would have on Iran’s Strait of Hormuz strategy. Iran said earlier this week that it would allow “non-hostile” ship traffic through the narrow waterway.
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Tangsiri oversaw the navy’s testing of drones and cruise missiles, according to the US Treasury, which imposed sanctions on him in 2019 and again in 2023. He also chaired the board of a company that manufactured and tested drones for the navy, the Treasury said.
Iran’s ability to control passage through the strait has been made possible, in part, by its use of attack drones.
Tangsiri had become a vocal presence on social media in recent weeks. He used his account on X to give updates on ships that Iran had refused to allow through the strait; to threaten US-linked oil facilities; and warn the US not to attack Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.
Tangsiri was chosen to head the Revolutionary Guard’s naval force by Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in 2018, and he was known for his aggressive statements asserting Iranian dominance over the Strait of Hormuz.
Khamenei was killed in an air strike at the outset of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran last month.
– This article originally appeared in The New York Times
