Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

Alireza Tangsiri (; born 1962) is an Iranian naval officer who serves as the commander of the IRGC Navy, appointed in 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 Bandar Abbas (, ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Bandar Abbas is a port on the southern coast of the country, on the Persian ...

. 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 The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

." In 2013 he said, “the Israelis are

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and the Americans are

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. Our

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

stresses that they are not our friends.” In January 2016, after Iran detained 10

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

in the

2016 U.S.–Iran naval incident On January 12, 2016, two United States Navy CB90-class fast assault craft, riverine command boats were seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Navy after they entered Iranian territo ...

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 Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

promoted Tangsiri to commander of the IRGCN. In November 2021, Tangsiri said that the United States had "come to realize the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

’s superiority at sea." In February 2025, he unveiled Iran's first

drone carrier A drone carrier is a crewed or uncrewed ship equipped with a flight deck on which drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) can take off and land. This ship can be civilian or military. In addition to drone carriers for unmanned aerial Vehicles, there a ...

, a commercial vessel that had been repurposed, which he described as the “largest naval military project” in the history of Iran. 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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

wrote Iran's supreme leader Khamenei urging Iran to reach a nuclear agreement with the U.S. or else face military action. In April 2025, Tangsiri said that the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

was “incapable” of challenging Iran’s maritime dominance.

Political views

In 2022, he claimed that Saudi rulers descend from the Jews of Medina and

Khaybar KhaybarOther Arabic transliteration, standardized Arabic transliterations: / . Anglicized pronunciation: , . (, ) is an oasis in Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province, Saudi Arabia, situated some north of the city of Medina. Prior to ...

, enemies of the Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

.'''' He has threatened American and British shipping in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

U.S. sanctions

On 24 June 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

, freezing any of his U.S. assets and banning U.S. persons from doing business with him, under Executive Order 13224. 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 An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

and is sanctioned by the USA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tangsiri, Alireza Living people 1962 births 21st-century Iranian military personnel Iranian commodores Iranian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War