Overview
- Hegseth, pressed at the Pentagon on Tuesday, said Iran has no dolphins to deploy and refused to confirm or deny any U.S. “kamikaze dolphins.”
- A source familiar with current Strait of Hormuz operations told CNN the U.S. military is not using dolphins there.
- The Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, in place since 1959, trains bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to find mines and guard ports, not to detonate explosives.
- In practice, the animals mark suspect objects with floating buoys so divers can clear them, and past use during conflict has been limited to post‑battle mine hunts such as near Umm Qasr in 2003.
- The Wall Street Journal reported some Iranian officials weighed mine‑carrying dolphins, yet reporters and experts say there is no evidence of an active Iranian program as AI‑made videos and deliberate ambiguity fuel the narrative.