On March 30 (local time), Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a 12-second video showing the moment its naval commander—who was later killed in an Israeli airstrike—ordered a closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
In the clip, Commander Alireza Tangsiri is heard repeating “Ya Fatimah al‑Zahra” into his radio.
Iranian media say the phrase served as the operation code for a Hormuz blockade.
Fatimah al‑Zahra is the most venerated woman in Islam, particularly in Iran’s state religion, Twelver Shia Islam.
She was the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali, the first imam in Shia belief.
The Iranian military often assigns the names of revered Shia religious figures to operation code names.
The name “Fatimah al‑Zahra” was used repeatedly as a code for key operations during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s.
The IRGC praised former commander Tangsiri as a martyr and overlaid subtitles on the footage: “A historic moment was recorded under the order of the brave IRGC naval commander. With the code ‘Ya Fatimah al‑Zahra,’ the Strait of Hormuz has been closed permanently to the U.S. and will not reopen.”
On March 26, the Israeli military said it struck Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, and killed Tangsiri. Iran officially confirmed his death four days later, on March 30.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a written message mourning the former commander.
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Jang Hyo‑in (hijang@yna.co.kr)
