Inside IDF's naval operations: Israel, US repeatedly hunted Iran's navy chief before succeeding

ByYONAH JEREMY BOBJULY 21, 2026 19:17On March 26, the IDF said that naval intelligence had assisted with assassinating Iranian Naval Chief Alireza Tangsiri in the port city of Bandar Abbas, with eliminating key Iranian naval cruise missile production sites, and Iranian sites related to submarines and other underwater threats.Later in July, Iran would start to recover aspects of its abilities to threaten the Straits of Hormuz, but at the time, some saw the killing of Tangsiri, and the navy's role, as another key strategic moment which led the Islamic Republic to agree to the terms of the ceasefire in early April.But until now, the details of how Tangsiri was killed have been clouded in mystery, classified from the public.Many details are still under wraps, but the Jerusalem Post can now disclose for the first time that prior to March 26, the US and Israel had already tried to assassinate Tangsiri a few times, until then without success.The process started with the Israeli naval intelligence and operations directorates carrying out specialized research to understand who Iran's naval officials were and when and how they generally operated.An Israel Navy vessel travels through Israeli waters. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)Next, the navy operations directorate placed the specific individuals, including Tangsiri, in the target bank for IDF intelligence and the air force.After that, IDF intelligence used the initial leads which it received from the navy to acquire raw real-time intelligence for carrying out the assassination, which they eventually passed on to the air force.The navy operations directorate maintained an officer with the air force targeting staff to perform final checks on the intelligence before the various strikes went forward against Tangsiri and other Iranian naval targets.The IDF struck Iranian long-range naval cruise missile sitesAround the same time that Tangsiri was killed, the air force, acting on information from IDF naval intelligence and the broader IDF intelligence directorate, also struck two key naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.The targeted sites operated under the command of the Iranian Ministry of Defense and were used by the Iranian regime to develop and manufacture long-range naval cruise missiles, which are capable of rapidly destroying targets at sea and on land.Such weapons could be used against the US and other allies seeking to open the Straits of Hormuz.Defense sources at the time said that Israel also continued to provide intelligence assistance to the US regarding the Straits.On April 16, the navy said that it had already undertaken or provided critical intelligence for 154 attacks during the early 2026 war with Iran and Hezbollah.95 of these attacks were against Iran.Of those 95 attacks, 68 of them were undertaken by US forces, but were entirely based on Israeli naval intelligence, with cooperation from the naval operations directorate.All of these IDF actions, including the assistance of naval intelligence and operations, either directly or indirectly reduced Iran's capability at the time to threaten the Straits of Hormuz, the Islamic regime's most powerful pressure point on the US, the West, Arab countries, and a wide array of other countries.Previously, regarding the navy and Iran, IDF navy Lt. "G" told the Post that during Operation Rising Lion against Iran, "I was in a bunch of operations. To be part of these operations felt like a substantial contribution."G added, "For two-and-a-half-years sometimes it was hard to see why the training mattered. But when you are on the frontlines at sea, it helps you connect everything you studied to something real and practical. The climax was against Iran, we had the chance to perform all of the skills which we learned during the course."Israeli navy was involved in assassinating of five senior IRGC officials in BeirutOn April 16, the navy revealed for the first time that it had been involved in both intelligence and operations in eliminating five senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force liaison officials with Hezbollah in an attack on the Ramada Hotel in Beirut on March 8.Until then, even the basic fact of the navy’s involvement had been kept classified.In the same navy briefing, it was revealed that during that attack, the navy fired 14 missiles to kill the five officials, who were top commanders in Quds Force-Hezbollah intelligence and terrorist financing and had links to Palestinian terrorist groups in Lebanon.The terrorist financing official was the key actor in transferring $770 million from Iran to Hezbollah over the past year, the IDF reported.The Post can now reveal new details from the assassination, including that two different Israeli naval ships were involved.Unlike the Iran case where the navy started the process, the Post can reveal that in this case IDF intelligence started the process of researching and locating the targets, but then turned to the navy to carry out the strike.Specifically, the Post understands that IDF intelligence wanted to utilize the navy's precision capacities to avoid any collateral harm to the large number of diplomats, media, and innocent people in the civilian hotel.For purposes of this and other operations, the navy's ability to operate in or near hostile territory for longer than other arms of the military is unique.If the air force justifiably brags about moving from a "stand out" posture to a relative "stand in," posture where its fighter jets or drones can spend some time hovering over a target in Iranian or Lebanese territory, the navy can go even farther to a "stand by" posture.In this case, stand by means staying in the area for an almost indefinite period, far longer than any drone or aircraft can do.Hezbollah commander assassinated by Israeli navyIn another incident, the Post can reveal that the navy assassinated the number two commander for Hezbollah's northern command at his mobile headquarters.The fact that the headquarters was mobile meant time was of the essence even more than in other cases.The Post has learned that within a swift period of time of the naval operations directorate receiving the information to strike them, the strike was carried out.Sources did not want to name which naval vessels undertook the above attacks, but on June 10, 2025, the Post and Hebrew media previously reported that two Israeli naval missile boats, one of which was a Saar 6 vessel, fired two long range precision missiles from hundreds of kilometers away at the Houthi port of Hodeidah.In addition, the Post has learned that models for rehearsing attacks can now be used in nearly every operation as the navy, using new technologies, can produce models of target areas in a matter of hours, whereas in the past, producing such models might take days.Follow us on Google