Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine briefly joked Tuesday after a reporter asked about reports of “kamikaze dolphins” tied to Iran, then said commercial shipping still has access to a safe lane through the Strait of Hormuz despite mine concerns.
During a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday, The Daily Wire’s White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about security in the Strait of Hormuz, including concerns about mines and reports describing “kamikaze dolphins.”
Hegseth laughed at the question and replied, “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t,” referring to Iran. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine also joked that he had not heard the claim, comparing it to “sharks with laser beams.”
Hegseth then addressed maritime security in more serious terms, saying the U.S. believes commercial vessels currently have access to a safe route through the strait. “Right now, we know we have a lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through,” he said, adding that if mines are identified, specialized units could conduct follow-on efforts to address them.
The question about dolphins followed reporting that Iranian officials had floated unconventional options to threaten U.S. forces and shipping in the waterway. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian officials mentioned “mine-carrying dolphins” among weapons Tehran could use, a claim that has since been widely repeated but not independently verified.
A separate CNN report published Tuesday said there is no indication Iran currently operates an active dolphin program, while noting the U.S. Navy has long trained marine mammals for tasks such as detecting and marking underwater objects, including mines—though not for suicide attacks. CNN also cited a source familiar with U.S. operations in the strait as saying the U.S. military is not using dolphins there.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most strategically important maritime chokepoints, and U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that mines and other attacks could disrupt commercial traffic even when a navigable lane is kept open.
