Alireza Tangsiri
{{Short description|Iranian military officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = Sardar
|name = Alireza Tangsiri
|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1962}}
|death_date =
|image = علیرضا تنگسیری1.jpg
|caption =
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|birth_place =
|death_place =
|allegiance = Iran
|branch = Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
|serviceyears =
|rank = Commodore
|unit =
|commands = Navy
|battles = {{Unbulleted list|Iran–Iraq War|2016 U.S.–Iran naval incident}}
|awards =
|spouse =
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}}
Commodore Alireza Tangsiri ({{langx|fa|علیرضا تنگسیری}};{{lrm}} born 1962) is an Iranian military officer and the commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, appointed in 2018.{{cite news |title=Leader appoints new Revolutionary Guards' Navy cmdr. |url=http://en.mehrnews.com/news/137031/Leader-appoints-new-Revolutionary-Guards-Navy-cmdr |agency=Mehr News Agency |date=23 August 2018}}{{cite web |title=Ayatollah Khamenei appoints new Commander of IRGC Navy, Coordinator |url=http://english.khamenei.ir/news/5886/Ayatollah-Khamenei-appoints-new-Commander-of-IRGC-Navy-Coordinator |website=khamenei.ir |accessdate=Aug 26, 2018}}
Military career
Tangsiri was a naval brigade commander during the Iran-Iraq War. He later headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) 1st Naval District in Bandar Abbas.{{cite web|date=5 September 2018 |title=IRGC Navy Leadership Change May Not Signal Imminent Behavior Change |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/irgc-navy-leadership-change-may-not-signal-imminent-behavior-change |website=Washington Institute}}
In September 2007, Tangsiri said that if the United States were "to clash with us, we would chase them even to the Gulf of Mexico."{{Cite web |title=Khamenei Shows Toughness In Persian Gulf Under New Commander |url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/khamenei-shows-toughness-in-persian-gulf-under-new-commander/29452798.html |date=2018-04-25 |website=Radio Farda}}
In 2013 he said, “the Israelis are Jews and the Americans are Christians. Our Quran stresses that they are not our friends.”{{Cite web |title=IRAN 2013 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/222501.pdf |date= |website=US Department of State}}
In January 2016, after Iran detained 10 US Marines in the 2016 U.S.–Iran naval incident when they had engine failure and entered Iranian waters, Tangsiri described it as "U.S. forces surrendering to Iran." On August 23, 2018, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei promoted Tangsiri to commander of the IRGCN.
In November 2021, Tangsiri said that the United States had "come to realize the Islamic Republic’s superiority at sea."{{Cite web |title=Iran’s Guard Corps navy chief brags at dealing 9 maritime ‘slaps’ to US |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-guard-corps-navy-chief-brags-at-dealing-9-maritime-slaps-to-us/ |date= |website=The Times of Israel}} In February 2025, he unveiled Iran's first drone carrier, a commercial vessel that had been repurposed, which he described as the “largest naval military project” in the history of Iran.{{cite web |date=7 February 2025 |title=Iran’s first drone carrier joins Revolutionary Guards’ fleet|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1890273 |website=Dawn}} In March 2025, Tangsiri warned that "If the enemies make a mistake, we will send them to the depths of hell," after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote Iran's supreme leader Khamenei urging Iran to reach a nuclear agreement with the U.S. or else face military action.{{cite web|date=24 March 2025 |title=Iran is deploying Air Defense Systems on Three Islands in the Persian Gulf|url= https://sarajevotimes.com/iran-is-deploying-air-defense-systems-on-three-islands-in-the-persian-gulf/|website=Sarajevo Times}}
In April 2025, Tangsiri said that the United States Navy was “incapable” of challenging Iran’s maritime dominance.{{Cite web |title=‘US cannot challenge Iran in Persian Gulf:’ IRGC Navy Chief |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/512090/US-cannot-challenge-Iran-in-Persian-Gulf-IRGC-Navy-Chief |date=2025-04-20 |website=Tehran Times}}
Political views
In 2022, he claimed that Saudi rulers descend from the Jews of Medina and Khaybar, enemies of the Prophet Muhammad.{{Cite book |last=Magen |first=Ze'ev |title=Reading revolutionary Iran: the worldview of the Islamic republic's religio-political elite |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-101810-2 |series=Studies on Modern Orient |location=Berlin, Boston |pages=629}}
He has threatened American and British shipping in the Persian Gulf.{{Cite web |title=Ali Reza Tangsiri |url=https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/ali-reza-tangsiri |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=Counter Extremism Project |language=en}}
U.S. sanctions
On 24 June 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, freezing any of his U.S. assets and banning U.S. persons from doing business with him, under Executive Order 13224.{{Cite web |url=https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20190624.aspx |title=Issuance of Executive Order of June 24, 2019, "Imposing Sanctions with Respect to Iran;" Iran-related Designations; Counter Terrorism Designations |website=U.S. Department of the Treasury |access-date=2019-06-24}} He was sanctioned with secondary sanctions in 2024 due to his position on the board of Paravar Pars Company, an Iranian military company which develops unmanned aerial vehicles and is sanctioned by the USA.
References
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{{succession box|before=Ali Fadavi|title=Commander of the IRGC Navy|years= 23 August 2018 - Present|after=}}
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{{IRGC Commanders}}
{{Iranian military commanders}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tangsiri, Alireza}}
Category:21st-century Iranian military personnel
Category:Iranian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Category:Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War