Iran confirmed Monday that its top naval commander died from severe injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike last week, marking another blow to Tehran’s military hierarchy as a global energy crisis deepens with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran on Monday confirmed that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri was killed in a US-Israeli strike , according to Fars news agency. Iranian authorities said Tangsiri had initially survived the strike but later died from his wounds, with the statement noting that he “succumbed to severe injuries” sustained in the attack .
The assassination of Alireza Tangsiri was carried out on Wednesday night and targeted other “senior officers of the naval command,” Israel Katz said on Thursday in a video statement . In addition to Tangsiri, the strike also killed the IRGC Navy’s intelligence chief, Behnam Rezaei, and the rest of the navy’s top leadership .
Israeli defense sources have confirmed to the Post that the strike that killed Tangsiri took place early Thursday morning, at 3 a.m. local time. The sources said that a number of Tangsiri’s top naval aides were killed in the same attack .
“The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping was blown up and eliminated,” he said , Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced. The United States on Thursday confirmed the death of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy commander Admiral Alireza Tangsiri from an Israeli airstrike .
The killing comes as Iran has effectively shut down commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, creating what economists call the worst energy supply disruption since the 1970s. Brent crude oil prices surpassed US$100 per barrel on 8 March 2026 for the first time in four years, rising to US$126 per barrel at its peak. The closure of the strait has been described as the largest disruption to the energy supply since the 1970s energy crisis .
The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed for commercial shipping despite technically remaining open. Insurance withdrawal is doing the work that physical blockade has not - the outcome for cargo flow is largely the same , according to Kpler, a shipping analytics firm.
The threats led to a partial closure, with ship-tracking data first showing a 70% reduction in traffic. The warnings and subsequent attacks on vessels caused a sharp decline in maritime transit, with tanker traffic dropping first by approximately 70% and over 150 ships anchoring outside the strait to avoid risks. Soon afterwards traffic dropped to about zero .
Tangsiri, 64, had commanded the IRGC Navy since August 2018 and was considered the architect of Iran’s asymmetric naval strategy in the Persian Gulf. Tangsiri had led the IRGC Navy since August 2018. During his tenure, he oversaw a major buildup of the IRGC Navy, expanding its capabilities with thousands of weapons, particularly missiles and naval mines .
The economic fallout from the strait’s closure is reverberating globally. The conflict has caused the restriction of nearly all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to what the International Energy Agency has characterised as the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted 20% of global oil supplies and significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes .
Asian economies face particularly acute shortages. The oil production of Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates collectively dropped by a reported 6.7 million barrels per day by 10 March, and by at least 10 million barrels per day as of 12 March . On March 24, 2026, President Bongbong Marcos declared a state of national energy emergency. He said that the Philippines had enough crude oil supply until June 30 .
The crisis extends beyond energy. The maritime blockade triggered a concurrent “grocery supply emergency” across Gulf Cooperation Council states, which rely on the Strait for over 80% of their caloric intake; by mid-March, 70% of the region’s food imports were disrupted .
The United States and its allies have released strategic petroleum reserves to cushion the shock. The U.S. and others are releasing 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves — the biggest release on record — and the U.S. has temporarily lifted sanctions on some Russian and Iranian oil to give the market breathing room .
However, analysts warn time is running out for a diplomatic solution. Oil executives and analysts warn that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened by mid-April or oil-supply disruptions will get significantly worse. The emerging view from oil industry executives and analysts is that the economic and market fallout from the war could escalate sharply if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened within roughly the next one to three weeks .
The conflict began February 28 when the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran. After Israel and U.S.