During a recent press conference at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed claims regarding Iran’s alleged use of marine mammals for military purposes. Hegseth firmly dismissed the notion of “kamikaze dolphins,” which suggested that Iran had trained dolphins to conduct suicide missions targeting US military vessels and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Hegseth, accompanied by General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded to a reporter’s inquiry about these reports. This discussion was sparked by a Wall Street Journal article that highlighted Iranian assertions of potentially reviving Cold War-era strategies, including the deployment of trained marine mammals to disrupt US maritime operations.

In a 2000 report, the BBC had indicated that Iran had acquired dolphins purportedly trained for attacks on enemy naval ships, initially for the Russian Navy. Hegseth and Caine’s responses came in light of renewed interest in this topic following Iran’s recent statements about its military capabilities.

When pressed for specifics about the supposed deployment of “kamikaze dolphins,” General Caine humorously remarked, “I haven’t heard of the kamikaze dolphins thing. You mean like sharks with laser beams?” Hegseth, while unable to provide details on US military capabilities, affirmed that there are no such dolphins in Iran’s arsenal.

This discussion coincided with Hegseth’s clarification that the US military’s current operations aimed at safeguarding commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are entirely separate from previous initiatives, specifically mentioning a project launched by former President Donald Trump. He stated, “To be clear, this operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury. Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.”

On a related note, President Trump recently halted the “Project Freedom” initiative, citing substantial progress in negotiations with Iran.

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