Khaberni - U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth denied that Iran has suicide dolphins, without ruling out the U.S. military's possession of such dolphins.
This was stated during a press conference, where a reporter asked whether Iran owned suicide dolphins. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Kin responded: "I have not heard about these suicide dolphins; they are like sharks with laser beams," referring to a scene from Dr. Evil’s shark tank in the 2002 movie "Austin Powers in Goldmember."
Then Hegseth, smiling, interrupted saying, "I cannot confirm or deny whether we possess suicide dolphins, but I can confirm that they – the Iranians – do not ultimately possess them."
It should be noted that the U.S. Navy has a specialized program for marine mammals, which trains bottlenose dolphins and sea lions on tasks to "detect, identify, distinguish, and retrieve objects" in harbors, coastal areas, and the open sea depths.
It is worth mentioning that the U.S. Navy has been training dolphins and sea lions since 1959, and the marine mammal program has been based at the naval base in Point Loma since the 1960s, managed by the Reconnaissance and Interdiction Division at the Naval Information Warfare Center in the Pacific.
According to the program's description, dolphins are trained to search for and locate underwater mines, which may pose a threat to the safety of military or civilian ships. Additionally, both dolphins and sea lions assist security personnel in detecting and apprehending unauthorized swimmers and divers who might attempt to harm Navy personnel or ships or port facilities.
Regarding whether the U.S. Navy currently uses dolphins to help clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines planted by Iranian forces over the past two months, an informed source familiar with the operations denied this to CNN.
