Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said, but would not “confirm or deny” whether America did.
Speaking from the White House to the media alongside General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was asked about reports of the marine mammals being deployed as weapons amid the ongoing Gulf crisis.
Mr Hegseth said: “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t.”
General Caine added: “I haven’t heard about kamikaze dolphins – it’s like sharks with laser beams right?”
These comments come after several reports, with one initially published by the Wall Street Journal, revealed Iran is seeking to use dolphins armed with mines to launch kamikaze-style attacks on U.S. vessels in the Strait of Hormuz citing Iranian officials familiar with the matter.
As the Daily Express US reported, this would not be the first time Iran has used the animal in its military strategy. For instance, in 2000, the country trained dolphins to kill the Soviet navy, training them to attack their enemies with harpoons attached to their backs, as well as with mines they were carrying in their bodies.
According to the Journal’s reporting, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has also threatened to cut phone cables in the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could disrupt global internet service, as it becomes more desperate to end the war, as well as the U.S. blockade in the passage.
Yesterday the U.S. Navy was reportedly directed to strike “immediate threats” against ships that cross the Strait of Hormuz, effectively changing the rules of engagement for U.S. forces in the region.
The move was part of what Mr Trump’s administration called “Project Freedom,” which is a plan to help release ships that were “locked up in the Strait of Hormuz” and were “merely neutral and innocent bystanders,” according to President Trump.
And today, the US warned Iran it is “locked and loaded” to defend Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ fuelling renewed concerns about the possibility of escalating global tensions. Speaking at the Pentagon briefing room, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran they will face “overwhelming American firepower” if they attack American troops.
Iran repeatedly said they had struck U.S. vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, but the U.S. Central Command denied the claims.
