Jeb Bush warns Iran supplied Cuba with 300 Shahed drones, putting US mainland in range

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has warned that Iran supplied Cuba with 300 kamikaze drones, putting the US mainland within striking range.

Speaking Thursday at an event hosted by the anti-Iran group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), Bush said "according to press reports, there are 300 of these Shahed drones in Cuba." Bush chairs the organization. His remarks were reported by Fox News, the New York Post and other outlets.

The Shahed is a kamikaze drone with a maximum range of 1,500 miles (about 2,400 kilometers) capable of carrying roughly 110 pounds (about 50 kilograms) of explosives. Cheap to produce yet highly destructive, the drones harassed US forces in the Middle East during the war with Iran. Florida lies about 90 miles (about 145 kilometers) from Cuba, well within the drone's range.

When deployed in swarms, the drones can overwhelm even sophisticated air defense systems. Bush acknowledged that the United States has "very strong defensive capabilities" but warned the threat should not be dismissed.

In an interview with NBC Miami, Bush said the drone had "taken more American lives than any weapon that's existed in the last 15 years."

Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who also attended the event, said the drones in Cuba could reach Florida "within minutes." Gimenez said AI was amplifying the threat, adding: "This is the face of war. Future wars will be fought this way, and they are being fought this way right now."

Gimenez warned that the drones, which fly at 115 miles per hour (about 185 kilometers per hour), can reach targets as far as the US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and cities across the southeastern United States, including Atlanta. "This model carries over 100 pounds of explosives — that's significant firepower," he said. "We call it a kamikaze drone because it crashes into its target and explodes."

Iran also supplied the drones to Russia during the war in Ukraine. The drones are believed to have been transferred to Cuba earlier this year, before the war with Iran.

The warning comes as Cuba is mired in severe turmoil. President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on Cuba earlier this year, triggering an energy crisis. Cuba has since moved to privatize state-owned enterprises and open its banking and energy sectors to foreign investment, loosening its communist economic model.

Cuba continues to face shortages of food and medicine as US sanctions, a slump in tourism and a lack of foreign currency compound its difficulties. A deepening power crisis has in effect brought economic growth to a halt.