IRGC Navy Commander killed in strike; Iran launches retaliatory attacks

Israeli media reports IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri killed in a strike. Iran retaliates with massive missile and drone strikes on US and Israeli facilities, warning against any ground invasion amid escalating regional tensions.

IRGC Navy Commander Reportedly Killed

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Alireza Tangsiri, has been killed in a strike in Bandar Abbas, Israeli media reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed Israeli official. There has been no comment from Iran or from the Israeli military on the strike. Tangsiri was responsible for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Times of Israel report.

Iran Unleashes 'Operation True Promise 4' in Retaliation

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) carried out a fresh round of military operations today against US military installations across the region in retaliation for earlier airstrikes against infrastructure and civilian facilities in the northern sector of Iran.

On Wednesday, the IRGC and the Iranian Army conducted multiple operations as part of Operation True Promise 4, which was launched immediately after the US-Israeli coalition carried out strikes on Iran. Iranian armed forces have so far carried out 82 waves of missile and drone strikes with advanced weaponry targeting Israeli military facilities as well as US bases and assets scattered across the West Asia region.

The IRGC further said that precision-guided Emad, Qiam, Khorramshahr-4, and Qadr missiles struck more than 70 locations across Israel in the 81st wave of Operation True Promise 4. IRGC Public Relations Department claimed the missiles successfully hit targets in Haifa, Dimona, Al-Khudriyya near Haifa, and areas north and south of Tel Aviv.

Regional Allies Join Conflict

The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have also joined the front against the external aggressors, inflicting heavy blows on the enemy.

IRGC Warns Against Ground Invasion

IRGC has also issued a warning to the US-Israel forces on considering a possible ground operation within Iranian territory. "Don't send your children to hell with the deceit of Netanyahu and Trump. The invading soldiers will be deeply drowned and disappear in the million-strong sea of the Iranian nation," the statement warned.

In a direct appeal, the IRGC addressed the American people, warning that they are being misled by warmongers such as Trump and Netanyahu through lies and distortion of battlefield realities. "The truth of the war you must observe at American gas stations, on the streets of Iran, and in the skies of Tel Aviv and Haifa," the statement read.

US Reportedly Planning Troop Deployment

According to a CBS report, the Pentagon is expected to deploy troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. The news report said, citing a source familiar with the planning, that the Pentagon is planning to send elements of the division, including a command component and some ground forces, to the region. A possible ground operation in the Kharg Island is also being contemplated by the US.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)