Israel has claimed that Alireza Tangsiri, the head of the IRGC’s naval branch, was eliminated.
An Israeli official, briefing several Hebrew media outlets, said that Tangsiri was killed in an IDF strike on Bandar Abbas on Wednesday night.
They also suggested that, as the top commander of the regime’s naval paramilitary, he was responsible for its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
This was subsequently confirmed by Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said: “The IDF has eliminated the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy – the direct official responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic.
“This is also an important message to our American partners, as an expression of the IDF’s assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”
The strait, which usually carries around 20 per cent of global oil supply, has been effectively closed for several weeks after Tehran threatened to attack maritime traffic in the area in a bid to intensify economic pressure on the US and Israel to end the current war.
Markets responded with steep increases in oil prices, from around $73 per barrel before the conflict to a high of nearly £120 earlier this week.
However, on Tuesday, Iran reportedly sent a note to the United Nations stating that it would allow “non-hostile vessels” to pass freely through the strait, according to the Financial Times.
And, per the Times of Israel, President Trump's remarks on the same day regarding a "present" he had apparently received from Iran related to the Islamic Republic allowing some ships to pass through the strait.
Those developments, along with Trump’s claim of negotiations between the two sides, eased inflationary pressures on oil and saw prices drop back under $100 on Wednesday afternoon.
But volatility remains, and prices hit $104 again as of Thursday morning, after Iran rejected a US proposal for a ceasefire in the ongoing war.
A report from the New York Times on Wednesday suggested that Washington had presented the Islamic Republic with a 15-point proposal to end the conflict, which began in February with a round of US and Israeli strikes.
This plan, the report stated, would have seen Iran give up its programme of uranium enrichment, dismantle its existing nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow, and accept limits on its ballistic missile capabilities.
In return, the US would lift crippling economic sanctions and assist in the development of a civilian nuclear energy project in the country.
But Iran’s foreign ministry has denied that any such negotiations have taken place, saying no talks have been held with the US since the collapse of diplomacy in February.
Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei told the Fars news agency, part of Iranian state media, that Tehran had “made it clear [on Tuesday] there are no talks or negotiations between Iran and the US”.
"There has been no contact between Iran and the US in the past 24 days, and Iranian armed forces continue to defend the country’s territorial integrity," he added.
The Associated Press subsequently cited Pakistani officials saying that Tehran had been presented with the peace plan by Islamabad in its role as a mediator, and had dismissed it.
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