Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy)
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on May 5 denied that Iran is using trained dolphins armed with explosives to block the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s still pretty low-level kinetics at this point in time, and I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins — but I can confirm they don’t,” he said, leaving the public wondering whether the U.S. might have such a capability.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine also made fun of the rumors, which originated from a recent Wall Street Journal report that suggested Iran explored reviving Soviet-era programs that trained dolphins for military use — including potentially equipping them to carry mines toward enemy ships in the waterway.
“I haven’t heard the kamikaze dolphin thing. It’s like sharks with laser beams, right?” the commander said, referring to a plot point in the 1997 comedy movie “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.”
In 2000, Iran bought dolphins trained to kill for the Soviet Navy from Boris Zhurid, a former submariner who ran the training program in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea.
At the time, BBC News reported that the animals were trained to attack enemy frogmen with harpoons attached to their backs, or to drag them to the surface to be taken into captivity. They could also undertake kamikaze strikes against enemy shipping carrying mines that would explode a ship in contact with its hull.
On the other side, the U.S. also worked extensively on training dolphins for military tasks, mainly through the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program.
Dolphins are trained under the program, running since the 1960s, to hunt mines, as well as to retrieve objects from underwater, and guard against intruders.
And just like the Soviets, the CIA explored the idea of training dolphins as “saboteurs” to attach explosive devices to enemy ships under Project OXYGAS, which was run in the 1960s. Based on this, it can be assumed that Hegseth was not very much joking when he refused to confirm or deny if the U.S. has kamikaze dolphins.
The Strait of Hormuz — a choke point for around 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas — has been under de facto Iranian control since the start of the American-Israeli war more than a month ago. Amid the ceasefire, the U.S. imposed a blockade on the ports of the Islamic Republic in an attempt to force Tehran into reopening the waterway, but the move only further complicated the situation.
Earlier this week, the U.S. has launched a military operation codenamed “Project Freedom” to safeguard navigation through the waterway, but not much has changed.
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widzę, że moje komentarze, które miały najwięcej plusów w poprzednich komentarzach są usuwane. wolność słowa… powtórzę jeszcze raz ta wojna jest sterowana przez syjonistów i ma doprowadzić do globalnego krachu, biedy i wprowadzenia totalitaryzmu nwo.
when good dolphins go bad. a fox news exclusive tonight. watch it…..
the ayatollah has a whole regiment of suicide dolphins, commanded by colonel flipper, a veteran of the iran-iraq war. the amerikunt navy had better remain well away from the coast of iran, unless they can find some way of inducing colonel flipper and his command to defect.