Is Iran using ‘kamikaze dolphins’ as a secret weapon to strike US ships?

On Tuesday (May 5), the Pentagon laughed off an unusual but serious claim that Iran has "Kamikaze Dolphins", which they are using to target US ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

During a Pentagon briefing, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed reports suggesting that Tehran is using trained dolphins armed with explosives to block Hormuz.

Alongside Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine gave a quiet laugh and said, "...Like sharks with laser beams, right?..."

However, is Iran using Marine mammals as a secret weapon to strike US naval vessels and commercial ships?

We take a look.

The claim

The conversation came following a Wall Street Journal report last week indicating that Iran has at least explored reviving Soviet-era programs that trained dolphins for military purposes.

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It also includes attaching mines to dolphins, so they can carry them toward enemy ships in the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

In 2000, the BBC reported that Iran acquired trained killer dolphins from the Soviet navy, which were particularly prepared to assault warships and attack the Islamic Republic’s enemies with harpoons attached to their backs.

The dolphins were reportedly able to distinguish between foreign and Soviet submarines based on the sounds produced by their propellers. They were also trained to carry out kamikaze strikes on enemy ships by transporting mines, the report noted.

A counter by the Pentagon

When asked about “kamikaze dolphins," Hegseth responded: "I can't confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins. But I can confirm they (Iran) don't."

Chuckling at the notion, Caine asserted that he had never heard of the concept of kamikaze dolphins.

“I haven’t heard the kamikaze dolphin thing. It’s like sharks with laser beams, right?" said Caine, humorously referring to the 1997 movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

The Pentagon chief then remarked, “That’s what it is.”

Are military dolphins part of the US Navy?

Hegseth left the public wondering whether the US has military dolphins operating in the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN reported, citing one source familiar with US operations in the Strait, that the US military isn’t deploying dolphins as part of its efforts in the Strait. However, the US Navy has long operated a program to train dolphins to help detect mines.

The Marine Mammal Program operates under the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Department within the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.

The department’s dolphins are not kamikaze dolphins, nor do they sacrifice their lives to detonate mines; rather, they are trained to detect threats.

Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at RAND, who previously worked with the now-decommissioned US Navy mine warfare command, told CNN, "We use marine mammals to help detect objects under water and to protect ports by detecting intruders. So it’s not ‘The Day of the Dolphin."

The US is not the only country to use dolphins for military purposes. Russia has deployed them to guard ports, and Iran acquired some in 2000, BBC reported, aformentioned.

With inputs from agencies