Alireza Tangsiri/Image: Tasnim News Agency is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License./Author: Amin Ahouei
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri was killed in a precision strike in Bandar Abbas.
Tangsiri frequently bragged on social media about closing the Strait.
On March 10, he wrote (translated from Persian), “At the beginning of the war, we declared—and we declare again—No vessel associated with the aggressors against Iran has the right to pass through #StraitofHormuz.”
“If you have any doubt, come closer and test it.”
در ابتدای جنگ اعلام کردیم و باز هم اعلام میکنیم؛
هیچ شناوری که مرتبط با متجاوزان به ایران باشد حق عبور از #تنگه_هرمز را ندارد.
اگر تردید دارید نزدیک شوید و امتحان کنید.
— علیرضا تنگسیری (@alirezatangsiri) March 10, 2026
According to the IDF, Tangsiri:
Served in this position over the past 8 years, following serving in several key positions in the IRGC Navy, including overseeing the regime’s terror activities.
Was responsible for the strikes throughout the years toward oil containers and trading ships, and constituted a central figure that threatened the maritime navigation and trade freedom in the Strait of Hormuz and the international maritime domain.
Throughout Operation Roaring Lion, led efforts to close the Strait of Hormuz and oversaw maritime terrorism carried out against countries in the Middle East, as well as against U.S. and other nations’ energy infrastructure.
Was directly responsible for disrupting the global economy and was subject to numerous international sanctions due to his personal involvement in carrying out terror attacks against vessels in international waters, as well as in the transfer of air defense systems and UAVs to Russia and Syria.
ELIMINATED: The IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri, in a precise IDF strike in Bandar Abbas. pic.twitter.com/ubrIhNbLL2
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 26, 2026
Image via IDF
IDF also announced the elimination of the Head of the IRGC Navy Intelligence Directorate, Behnam Rezaei.
“Rezaei was responsible for intelligence collection on regional countries and led cooperation with various intelligence organizations.”
Additionally, the IDF eliminated the Head of the IRGC Navy Intelligence Directorate, Behnam Rezaei.
Rezaei was responsible for intelligence collection on regional countries and led cooperation with various intelligence organizations. https://t.co/kOwOTB4iQT pic.twitter.com/PM5beFAdUr
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 26, 2026
In 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Tangsiri was sanctioned by the United States and other countries for his role in IRGC activities, including involvement with companies linked to drone (UAV) production for the IRGC.
Per OFAC in 2019:
Today’s action targets commanders of the IRGC’s Navy, Aerospace, and Ground Forces, in addition to the commanders of the IRGC Navy’s (IRGCN) five naval districts. These include the naval district commanders who are responsible for the IRGCN’s activities off the coast of the southern provinces of Khuzestan, Bushehr, and Hormozgan, which lie adjacent to the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
OFAC is designating IRGCN Commander Ali Reza Tangsiri pursuant to E.O. 13224 for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC.
As recently as February 2019, Tangsiri threatened that the Iranian regime’s forces would close the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway, if U.S. sanctions stopped Iran’s oil exports, and that the Iranian regime is prepared to target U.S. interests in the region.
As the commander of the IRGCN, Tangsiri sits atop a structure—including those regional IRGCN commanders sanctioned today—that is responsible for the sabotage of vessels in the international waters.
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