Iran’s naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, a senior military official, was killed in a strike in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday (March 24, 2026), marking a huge setback for Tehran amidst its four-week military conflict with the combined force of the US and Israel.
Announcing the elimination of Tangsiri, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iranian naval commander had “a great deal of blood on his hands” to justify the strike on him.
Tangsiri had a crucial role ot play in the blockade of the Hormuz Strait since February 28, when the US-Israel combine first carried out airstrikes on Iran that killed the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at his Tehran office compound, necessitating an Iranian retaliation.
Tangsiri, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official, is also believed to have a role to play in deciding the aerial strike on the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln earlier this week. He was killed in the Israeli attack on Bandar Abbas, according to an official in Tel Aviv.
He had decades of experience as a warrior, having served during the Iraq war for Iran and rising through the ranks to become the IRGC’s naval force chief.
Netanyahu, in a statement shared by his office on Wednesday (March 25), said, “We continue to forcefully strike the targets of the Iranian terrorist regime.” The IRGC navy commander, Tangsiri, was killed in a strike carried out the previous night.
“Last night, we eliminated the Commander of the IRGC Navy. This man had a great deal of blood on his hands; he was also the one who led the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
The Strait of Hormuz has been a key conflict point between Iran and the US-Israel combine, after the IRGC announced it took control of the narrow maritime passage in the Gulf region on February 28 in retaliation for the airstrikes on Tehran.