US gives verdict on if it has Kamikaze dolphins in the Strait of Hormuz

The US Secretary of War has said that Iran doesn’t have ‘kamikaze dolphins’ in the Strait of Hormuz, but didn’t confirm or deny whether America did.

Pete Hegseth was asked by reporters today about claims that the marine animals were being deployed as weapons in the Middle East, and his answer left us wanting more.

‘I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t,’ he said.

General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added: ‘I haven’t heard about kamikaze dolphins – it’s like sharks with laser beams, right?’

There were reports in 2000 that Tehran had once bought dolphins to be trained for military missions.

In recent weeks, Fox News ran a segment claiming that Iran was strapping suicide bombs to dolphins in the Strait of Hormuz.

‘These rogues are desperate,’ Fox News host Jesse Watters said.

Dolphins have been used in military operations before, notably in 1959, when the US Navy trained dolphins and sea lions to detect mines, defend swimmers and recover lost objects.

In 2003, trained dolphins were deployed in the south of Iraq to clear mines from waterways.

Those dolphins were trained to mark any mines in the water with floats, and at the time, the US Navy said they posed ‘no significant risks’.

Hegseth confirmed that the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect despite some strikes by Tehran and the ongoing US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, Hegseth said ‘the ceasefire is not over’, as he echoed earlier comments by General Caine.

US forces are pressing ahead with an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but so far only two vessels, both of them American-flagged merchant ships, are known to have passed through.

General Caine said the safety corridor in the key waterway for oil and gas transport involves guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members.

Hegseth said the forces prefer a peaceful effort to ‘guide’ the more than 22,500 mariners stuck on more than 1,550 vessels out of the Persian Gulf, but are ready if needs change.

‘This is a temporary mission for us,’ Hegseth said. ‘We expect the world to step up.’

General Caine told reporters at the Pentagon that Iran’s recent acts of aggression are below the threshold of ‘major combat operations’.

That means Tehran, in the Trump administration’s view, has not violated the tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran.

The Pentagon update came after the United Arab Emirates said Iran fired missiles and drones at it.

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