Iran’s Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini was killed in joint US and Israeli strikes, Iranian state media reported on Friday. His death came minutes after he issued a defiant warning challenging US naval claims in the Gulf.Naini “was martyred in the criminal cowardly terrorist attack by the American-Zionist side at dawn”, the IRGC said in a statement, as quoted by news agency AFP.

The brigadier-general had openly mocked Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran’s navy had been destroyed, daring Washington to deploy ships into the Persian Gulf. He had also insisted Iran continued producing missiles despite ongoing strikes.“Didn’t Trump say that Iran’s navy has been destroyed? If so, let him send his ships into the Persian Gulf if he dares,” Naini was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.“Our missile industry deserves a perfect score… and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said, quoted by the Fars news agency.