A senior Iranian naval commander who ordered the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz was killed Thursday in an Israeli airstrike, Israeli officials confirmed, marking the latest in a series of high-level eliminations.

Alireza Tangsiri, who led the naval division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a strike targeting the port city of Bandar Abbas along the strategic waterway, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Tangsiri, 64, joins a growing list of top Iranian figures recently killed, including IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, senior regime figure Ali Larijani, and Gholamreza Soleimani, known for his role in suppressing protests.

Beyond authorizing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a critical corridor through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes — Tangsiri had pledged to enforce the blockade following directives from Iran’s current leadership under Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

“In response to the order of the commander-in-chief, we will deliver the harshest blows to the aggressor enemy while maintaining the strategy of closing the Strait of Hormuz,” he had said.

The disruption to oil shipments has sent energy markets into turmoil in recent weeks, with political leaders and industry officials urging that the waterway be reopened. Earlier this week, Brent crude was reported at $100 per barrel.

Iran has also issued broader warnings, signaling it could escalate further by targeting another key maritime chokepoint — the Bab al-Mandeb Strait — if U.S. forces move against Kharg Island, a small but vital hub responsible for the majority of Iran’s oil exports.

The Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, carrying approximately 12% of global oil supplies.

“If the enemy wants to take action on land in the Iranian islands or anywhere else in our lands or to inflict costs on Iran with naval movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,” Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported, citing IRGC sources.

“We will open other fronts for them as a surprise so that their action will not only be of no benefit to them but will also double their costs.

“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the world’s strategic straits, and Iran has both the will and the ability to create a completely credible threat against it.”

The warning came after President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Central Command had carried out a major strike on Kharg Island, describing it as having “executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”

According to reports, Iran has bolstered its defensive posture around Kharg Island, deploying additional air defense systems and laying naval mines amid concerns over a possible invasion.

U.S. allies are said to be uneasy about the prospect of American ground action, with fears that Iran would retaliate forcefully.

An Israeli source cautioned that any such move could result in American casualties, noting that Iran is likely to respond with drone attacks, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.

“The hope is that they won’t take that risk and will instead fire at the oil fields, but there is no way to know,” they said.

{Matzav.com}