FILE PHOTO: In this photo released by the Iranian President’s Office, President Ebrahim Raisi waves as he visits an exhibition of the Revolutionary Guards’ naval capabilities with Revolutionary Guards Naval Commander Alireza Tansiri in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, Friday, February 2, 2024.
Iranian Presidential Palace | AP
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that Iranian naval commander Alireza Tansiri was killed in a “precision strike” in the port city of Bandar Abbas, blaming efforts to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The IDF said in a social media post that Tansiri “supervised maritime terrorism carried out against energy infrastructure in Middle Eastern countries, the United States and other countries.”
U.S. Central Command later confirmed Tansiri’s death in a post about X. Tansiri’s death in an Israeli airstrike “made the region safer,” Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper said, adding that attacks on the Iranian navy would continue.
Iran has not yet commented on the report.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has virtually come to a standstill since the United States and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28. Iran has retaliated by targeting ships attempting to pass through the waterway, with several incidents reported in recent weeks.
Along with Tansiri, the IDF said it had also killed Behnam Rezaei, head of the Naval Intelligence Directorate of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army continues to attack Iranian regime targets.
“Last night, we eliminated the naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards. This man has a lot of blood on his hands, and he also led the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,” Netanyahu said on X, according to Google Translate.
“This is another example of our cooperation with our friend the United States towards the common goal of achieving the war objectives,” he added.
Israel previously announced that it had killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani, and Iran’s Basij military commander Gholamreza Soleimani.
