TEHRAN, March 31. /TASS/. The funeral of Iranian Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, is taking place in the port city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Around a thousand people carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Tangsiri gathered for the ceremony, SNN television reported.

Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and president of the Islamic republic Masoud Pezeshkian expressed condolences over the death of the naval commander in an enemy attack after Tangsiri was confirmed dead on Monday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz asserted on March 26 that the commander of the IRGC Navy had been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The IRGC, the elite unit of the Iranian army, announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit.