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War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran does not have so-called “kamikaze dolphins” — dismissing an unusual claim that emerged from recent reporting on Iran’s potential tactics in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t,” Hegseth said during a Pentagon briefing Tuesday.
The question stems from a Wall Street Journal report that said Iranian officials have at least discussed reviving a Cold War-era program involving trained dolphins capable of carrying mines toward enemy ships.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine appeared unfamiliar with the claim, reacting with a laugh when asked about it.
“I haven’t heard the kamikaze dolphin thing. It’s like sharks with laser beams, right?” he said, referencing the fictional weapon from the “Austin Powers” films.
In this handout photo from the U.S. Navy, Sergeant Andrew Garrett watches K-Dog, a bottlenose dolphin attached to Commander Task Unit 55.4.3, leap out of the water while training near the USS Gunston Hall March 18, 2003 in the Persian Gulf. (U.S. Navy/Getty Images)
(July 18, 2018) U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) MARK 7 Marine Mammal System bottlenose dolphin places a marking device in the vicinity of an exercise sea mine in Southern California during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. (Lt. Andrew Thompson Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet)
U.S. military dolphins have been used in combat before — but not as weapons. During the Iraq War, Navy-trained dolphins were deployed to the Persian Gulf to help clear mines from the port of Umm Qasr, using their natural sonar to locate and mark underwater explosives so divers could neutralize them.
The U.S. Navy has long trained marine mammals for missions such as detecting underwater mines and tracking divers, and Soviet programs during the Cold War experimented with more offensive uses.
Iran reportedly acquired dolphins from a former Soviet program in 2000, though there is no confirmed evidence such capabilities are active today.
U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) MK7 Marine Mammal System bottlenose dolphin searches for an exercise sea mine alongside an NMMP trainer (Lt. Andrew Thompson Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet)
Military dolphins are trained to detect and mark threats, not strike them — and unlike guided weapons, they cannot be directed in real time once deployed.
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The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most heavily trafficked maritime chokepoints, would make such a tactic especially difficult to execute, given the volume of commercial and military traffic moving through the narrow passage.
The speculation comes amid heightened tensions in the region, where Iran has historically relied on asymmetric tactics such as naval mines, drones and fast-attack boats to threaten shipping.