US Navy Plans Launch of Mideast Drone Force Alongside Partners

A US Navy Martin UAV drone flies over the Gulf waters as the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) Abdulrahman Al Fadhel takes part in a joint naval exercise between the US 5th Fleet Command and Bahraini forces, on October 26, 2021. (AFP)
A US Navy Martin UAV drone flies over the Gulf waters as the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) Abdulrahman Al Fadhel takes part in a joint naval exercise between the US 5th Fleet Command and Bahraini forces, on October 26, 2021. (AFP)
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US Navy Plans Launch of Mideast Drone Force Alongside Partners

A US Navy Martin UAV drone flies over the Gulf waters as the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) Abdulrahman Al Fadhel takes part in a joint naval exercise between the US 5th Fleet Command and Bahraini forces, on October 26, 2021. (AFP)
A US Navy Martin UAV drone flies over the Gulf waters as the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) Abdulrahman Al Fadhel takes part in a joint naval exercise between the US 5th Fleet Command and Bahraini forces, on October 26, 2021. (AFP)

The United States Navy and security partners will patrol Middle East waters with 100 unmanned vessels next year to improve deterrence against attacks, like those presented by Iran, the US Fifth Fleet commander said on Monday.

The region is vital for global trade, especially oil supplies that flow out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.

There have been high-seas confrontations between US and Iranian forces with attacks on oil tankers in Gulf waters in 2019. Sanctions-hit Iran denied accusations of responsibility.

Last year the US Navy established a new task force to integrate drone systems and artificial intelligence into the maritime operations of its Bahrain-stationed Fifth Fleet.

"We are at the cusp of an unmanned technological revolution," Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told a defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where he unveiled plans for the joint fleet.

"By the summer of next year, 100 advanced unmanned surface vessels would be patrolling the waters around this region."

Cooper said the United States would join with Middle East allies whose forces have unmanned vessel capabilities to operate much of the new fleet to boost deterrence and threat detection and better secure critical waterways.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic ties in 2020 and work closely with Washington on regional security, have developed indigenous unmanned assets.

"No navy acting alone can protect against all the threats here in this region. The region is simply too big. We must address this in a coordinated multinational way," Cooper said.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militias, which recently carried out mostly failed drone and missile strikes on the UAE, have also targeted vessels off the Yemeni coast.

"It's well established that Iran is the principal security threat in the region," Cooper said.

The Fifth Fleet has used unmanned vessels in exercises since November, he said, racking up thousands of operating hours.



Iran Hangs Three More Accused of Spying for Israel

The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
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Iran Hangs Three More Accused of Spying for Israel

The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP

Iran on Wednesday hanged three men convicted of spying for Israel after what activists decried as an unfair trial, bringing to six the number of people executed on such charges since the start of the war between the Islamic republic and Israel.

The hangings have also amplified fears for the life of Swedish-Iranian dual national Ahmadreza Djalali who has been on death row for seven-and-a-half years after being convicted of spying for Israel which his family vehemently denies.

The executions also bring to nine the number of people executed by Iran on espionage charges since the start of 2025, with activists accusing Tehran of using capital punishment as a means to instil fear in society.

Idris Ali, Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul and Azad Shojai were executed earlier Wednesday in the northwestern city of Urmia, the judiciary said, the day after a truce between the Islamic republic and Israel came into effect, AFP reported.

They had "attempted to import equipment into the country to carry out assassinations," it added.

Iran had executed three other men accused of spying for Israel since the start of the conflict on June 13, in separate hangings on June 16, June 22 and June 23.

"The Islamic Republic sentenced Idris Ali, Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, and Azad Shojai to death without a fair trial and based on confessions obtained under torture, accusing them of espionage," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), told AFP.

He said Ali and Shojai were two border porters -- known locally as kolbar -- who carry goods over the border.

"They were arrested on charges of smuggling alcoholic beverages but were forced to confess to espionage for Israel," he said. Ali and Shojai were members of Iran's Kurdish minority while Rasoul, while also Kurdish, was an Iraqi national.

- 'Imminent risk' -

He warned that in the coming weeks the lives of "hundreds" more prisoners sentenced to death were at risk. "After the ceasefire with Israel, the Islamic republic needs more repression to cover up military failures, prevent protests, and ensure its continued survival."

Djalali was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death in October 2017 on charges of spying following what Amnesty International has termed "a grossly unfair trial" based on "'forced confessions' made under torture and other ill-treatment."

Long held in Tehran's Evin prison, which was hit by an Israeli strike on Monday before the truce, he has now been transferred to an unknown location, raising fears that his execution could be imminent, his family and government said.

"He called me and said, 'They're going to transfer me.' I asked where, and he said, 'I don't know,'" his wife Vida Mehrannia told AFP.

"Is it because they want to carry out the sentence? Or for some other reason? I don't know," she said, adding that she was "very worried" following the latest executions.

The Swedish foreign ministry said it had received information that he has been moved to an "unknown location" and warned there would be "serious consequences" for Sweden's relationship with Iran were he to be executed.

Amnesty International said Tuesday it was "gravely concerned" that he "is at imminent risk of execution".

- 'Grossly unfair trials' -

Rights groups say defendants in espionage cases are often convicted under vaguely-worded charges which are capital crimes under Iran's sharia law including "enmity against god" and "corruption on earth".

Analysts say that Israel's intelligence service Mossad has deeply penetrated Iran, as shown by its ability to locate and kill key members of the Iranian security forces in the conflict. But rights groups say that those executed are used as scapegoats to make up for Iran's failure to catch the actual spies.

Iran's judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had ordered swift trials against people suspected of collaborating with Israel with rights groups saying dozens of people have been arrested since the conflict started.

"A rush to execute people after torture-tainted 'confessions' and grossly unfair trials would be a horrifying abuse of power and a blatant assault on the right to life," said Hussein Baoumi, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

According to IHR, Iran has executed 594 people on all charges this year alone.