Washington DC — Senior United States defence officials have dismissed media reports claiming Iran is considering using dolphins to carry out suicide missions on US warships in the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions and naval activity in the strategic waterway.
During a press briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, appearing alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, was questioned regarding reports on the potential deployment of Iranian “kamikaze dolphins” in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“I can‘t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they [Iran] don‘t,” Hegseth told the media.
Caine remarked that he was unaware of the reports.
“I haven‘t heard the kamikaze dolphin thing, it is like sharks with laser beams,” he said, a reference to the Austin Powers movies.
The official reaction came after the Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying that “Tehran could use previously unused weapons to attack US warships, from submarines to mine-carrying dolphins.”
The story of “kamikaze dolphins” was repeated by the Fox News and by The New York Post.
The NYP cited 26-year-old BBC article that suggested Iran bought dolphins trained to kill for the Soviet navy.
Fox News host Jesse Watters also pushed the “kamikaze dolphins” angle on air with lines like “The mullahs (Iranian clerics) want to strap mines to dolphins now. Don’t tell PETA!”
