Iran live updates: White House calls on other nations to secure Strait of Hormuz

The Army has deployed nearly 10,000 AI-powered drones to the Middle East since the war with Iran started, according to a U.S. official.

The drones, known as Merops, were developed by Perennial Autonomy, a defense venture backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and are designed to hunt and destroy enemy drones.

The system has already seen extensive use on the Ukrainian front, where Merops have downed more than 1,000 Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia, according to the official.

The Shahed is the same drone being used against U.S. troops in the Middle East.

The U.S. government is offering a "reward of up to $10 million for information on the key leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its component branches," according to the Rewards for Justice website.

The U.S. is looking for information on 10 officials, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Deputy Chief of Staff in the Supreme Leader Office Ali Asghar Hejazi and Director and Minister of Intelligence and Security Esmail Khatib.

It is also seeking information on unnamed individuals holding key positions, including secretary of the Defense Council, the IRGC commander and advisor to the supreme leader.

A Marine expeditionary unit with 2,200 Marines aboard three U.S. Navy amphibious ships is being ordered to the Middle East, according to two U.S. officials.

The 31st MEU is permanently deployed to Japan and operates in the INDO-PACOM region, but it is now being ordered to head to the Middle East.

Its deployment does not mean that the unit is going to be used as a ground force for use in Iran, but it offers land, amphibious and aviation assets that can be available to military commanders if needed.

This particular MEU also includes a squadron of F-35 fighter jets and a squadron of MV-22 tilt rotor Osprey aircraft.

Six service members were killed when their refueling aircraft "went down" in friendly airspace in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.

"All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased. The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace March 12 during Operation Epic Fury," CENTCOM said Friday.

The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET on Thursday when two aircraft were involved in "an incident," CENTCOM said in a brief statement, confirming that "one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely."