The Pentagon’s first kamikaze drone unit is ready to deploy should President Donald Trump decide to launch attacks on Iran, U.S. officials and analysts said. The drone unit is known as Task Force Scorpion and emerged from an experimental drone unit in the US military.
It is now operational, US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said in an emailed statement. “We established the squadron last year to quickly equip our Soldiers with new, constantly evolving combat drones,” he said.
Iran and the USA have ended their third round of nuclear negotiations in Geneva. After the talks on X, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Bussaidi spoke of “significant progress” in the negotiations. “We will meet again soon after consultations in the respective capitals,” he added. Talks on a technical level are planned in Vienna next week. If this takes place, details of a possible agreement are likely to be negotiated.
The negotiations include, among other things, the controversial Iranian nuclear program. The USA wants to prevent the leadership in Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s government denies such intentions, but appears ready to limit its nuclear program. In return, Tehran is demanding the lifting of tough economic sanctions. On Wednesday, Iran submitted a first draft of a new agreement.
According to a media report, US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are disappointed with the course of the talks with Iran. This is reported by the news portal Axios, citing the morning round of negotiations in Geneva.
The largest U.S. military deployment to the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq is underway. The largest US aircraft carrier, the “USS Gerald R. Ford”, left a port near the Greek island of Crete on Thursday. The ship is expected near Haifa in northern Israel on Friday. According to a US official, the USA has also transferred around a dozen F-22 fighter jets to Israel. The Pentagon declined to comment. In June last year, the USA and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran has threatened severe retaliation if another attack occurs.
