Israeli Official Claims IRGC Navy Commander Killed in Airstrike

An Israeli official claimed on Thursday that Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, was killed in an airstrike on the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, a major hub near the Strait of Hormuz. The report, which has not been confirmed by Iranian authorities or the Israel Defense Forces, marks another reported high-level casualty in the escalating conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.

Bandar Abbas serves as the headquarters for the IRGC Navy and lies adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about 20 percent of the world's seaborne oil and natural gas typically flows. Tangsiri, who assumed leadership of the naval branch in August 2018, oversaw Iran's maritime operations in the region, including efforts to restrict access to the strait amid the ongoing war. Born in 1962 in Iran's Bushehr Province, he rose through the ranks after serving in the Iran-Iraq War and the Tanker Wars of the 1980s, later commanding the IRGC's 1st Naval District in Bandar Abbas and serving as deputy naval commander from 2010 to 2018.

The conflict erupted on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated...