TEHRAN- Despite severe warnings from Tehran against foreign military presence in the Persian Gulf, the chief of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has said a U.S.-led task force would deploy over 100 unmanned vessels in the vital waterways of the Persian Gulf.

The deployment, according to General Michael Kurilla, would be finished by the end of the next year and is intended to fend off marine threats.

Kurilla, who was sanctioned by the Islamic Republic last month for supporting terrorism and inciting violence against the Iranian people during the recent riots, said, “By this time next year, Task Force 59 will bring together a fleet of over 100 unmanned surface and subsurface vessels operating together, communicating together and providing maritime domain awareness.”

After a string of drone assaults that were purportedly attributed to Iran, Task Force 59 was established in Bahrain in September 2021 to incorporate unmanned technology and artificial intelligence into the Pentagon' West Asian operations.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of Iran, has said that the challenges in the region have multiplied due to the extra-regional nations' widespread use of unmanned vessels.

At a press conference held in Tehran on Saturday with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, Amir Abdollahian stated, “We consider the presence of extra-regional forces in the region to be a threat to the peace and stability of the region, and we believe that they have become a threat to the Persian Gulf region and the Oman Sea, as well as energy security in the region.”

Along with the unmanned ships, Kurilla added that the U.S. is "developing an experimental program here in the Middle East (West Asia) to combat opponent drones with our allies."

He obviously meant to say that Iranian drones posed "the biggest technical danger to regional security."

Iran has successfully advanced its defense program in recent years despite being subject to harsh U.S. sanctions that target its military, achieving what the former head of the U.S. Central Command once referred to as "overmatch" – a level of military capability at which a country is extremely difficult to defeat.

Last year, General Frank McKenzie remarked said, “Iran has the ability to strike successfully throughout the width and depth of the Middle East (West Asia),” adding, “They could hit with precision and with volume.”

Iran now has a massive strategic capability, he stated. "They may overwhelm with their overmatch in the theater."

Iran has made it clear that its missile and drone programs are defensive in nature, notwithstanding the ruckus caused by its military expansion.

The Islamic Republic continues to reassure its neighbors that it wants the region to be peaceful, stable, and to have good relations with them. The nation has also expressed a desire to give friendly and neighborly states cutting-edge scientific and military technology.