Israel Eliminates Top IRGC Navy Commander Responsible for Closing Strait of Hormuz

Latest Developments

Navy Commander Killed: Israel said on March 26 that it had eliminated Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, in the port city of Bandar Abbas. According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Tangsiri was “directly responsible” for mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global shipping. “Over the years, Tangsiri was responsible for attacks on oil tankers and commercial vessels and personally threatened the freedom of navigation and trade in the Strait of Hormuz,” the IDF stated.
Naval Intelligence Chief Also Eliminated: In addition to Tangsiri, the IDF confirmed that it had struck and eliminated the IRGC Navy’s intelligence head, Behnam Rezaei, along with several of the IRGC Navy’s top leadership. Israel did not specify which other commanders it had targeted.
Netanyahu Says Campaign in Iran Continuing ‘With Full Force’: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue “to strike with full force at the targets of the Iranian terror regime.” He further labeled the strike against Tangsiri “another example of the cooperation between us and our friend the United States, for the common goal of achieving the objectives of the war [in Iran].”

FDD Expert Response

“There are two challenges with leadership decapitation in the context of the Islamic Republic. First, the regime has numerous commanders across multiple pillars, most of them armed. More importantly, the body of the armed forces can still threaten the Strait of Hormuz and continue killing dissidents. Targeting senior leadership must be paired with a strategy to induce mid-level commanders to defect.” — Janatan Sayeh, Research Analyst

“The elimination of Admiral Tangsiri and decimation of the IRGC naval command is another massive blow to the Islamic Republic. It comes after the destruction of over 90 percent of the Iranian Navy’s large ships, compounding a collapse of Iran’s maritime capability. It serves the twin purposes of weakening and demoralizing the IRGC as the regime’s key organ of oppression; and of suppressing Iran’s ability to resist U.S. and allied efforts to reopen and secure transit through the Strait of Hormuz.” — Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Fellow