JERUSALEM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military killed the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, Alireza Tangsiri, in an overnight airstrike, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed in a statement.
Speaking in a video statement from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Katz said the attack also killed other senior Navy officials.
He said the attack was "an expression of aid" to the United States in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Tangsiri was "directly responsible for the naval mine attack and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz," according to Katz.
Earlier in the day, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, citing an Israeli official, said Tangsiri was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian naval base in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
The Iranian side has not commented on the claim yet.
On Tuesday, Tangsiri wrote on social media platform X that any vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz must fully coordinate with Iranian maritime authorities. He said IRGC naval forces had blocked a foreign container ship, identified as the "SELEN," after it failed to comply with required protocols and obtain a transit permit.
The development came amid heightened tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28 that targeted Tehran and other cities, prompting Iranian retaliatory missile and drone attacks against Israel and U.S. targets in the region. ■
