Israel says Iranian leader who ordered Strait of Hormuz closure killed in targeted strike

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri was targeted and killed in an Israeli attack, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has noted.

“Tonight, in a precise and lethal operation, the IDF eliminated the Commander of the IRGC Navy, Tangsiri, along with senior members of the naval command,” Katz noted, according to a translation from Hebrew. “The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist act of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to navigation has been targeted and eliminated.”

“This is a clear message to all senior officials of the Iranian IRGC terror organization currently ruling Iran: The IDF will hunt and eliminate you one by one. I congratulate the IDF on a perfect execution,” Katz indicated. “This is also significant news for our American partners, as an expression of the IDF’s assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the historic partnership between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and between our two countries and two armies.”

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The Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy commander, Alireza Tangsiri, toured an exhibition in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.  (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

The strike was executed based on American and Israeli intelligence, a senior Israeli official indicated to Fox News.

“The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy, Alireza Tangsiri, who directly commanded the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints — was targeted in a strike overnight, along with his senior operational leadership, including intelligence and operations chiefs, at a covert naval command center,” the official noted. “This targeted strike was based on U.S. and Israeli intelligence and continues to demonstrate how deeply it is capable of penetrating.”

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Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, at the Ministry of National Defense, Athens, Jan. 20, 2026.  (Nick Paleologos / SOOC / AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump launched the controversial war against Iran in conjunction with Israel nearly four weeks ago.

“The Iranian negotiators are very different and ‘strange.’ They are ‘begging’ us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only ‘looking at our proposal.’ WRONG!!!” Trump declared in a Thursday morning Truth Social post. 

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President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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“They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!” he warned.

Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this report