Pentagon denies Tehran has ‘kamikaze dolphins’ amid US-Iran Gulf stand-off
The Iran conflict and ensuing stand-off between the US and Tehran amid a fragile truce has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said, but he would not “confirm or deny” whether America does.
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He was asked about reports of the marine mammals being deployed as weapons by Tehran amid the ongoing Gulf crisis.
Mr Hegseth was speaking at a Pentagon briefing where he outlined steps taken by the US to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and free hundreds of stranded cargo vessels.
The Iran conflict and ensuing stand-off between the US and Tehran amid a fragile truce has effectively closed the shipping lane, which is a major route for oil and gas supplies, sending energy prices soaring and damaging the global economy.
Responding to a question from the media, Mr Hegseth said: “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t.”
Read more: Offensive stage of Iran war is 'over', says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Pete Hegseth 'can neither confirm nor deny' that the US has secret kamikaze dolphins. pic.twitter.com/wYmg80j15Y
— LBC (@LBC) May 5, 2026
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “I haven’t heard about kamikaze dolphins – it’s like sharks with laser beams, right?”
Meanwhile, Washington insists the fragile Middle East ceasefire still holds despite Iranian attacks as the US moved to end Iran’s stranglehold on the narrow strait by creating an “enhanced security area”.
The American military said it had destroyed six small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after President Donald Trump announced the clearance operation called Project Freedom.
Tehran also carried out strikes against the United Arab Emirates, which is a key regional US ally.
Mr Hegseth said: “We’re not looking for a fight.
“Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be watching very, very closely.”
Gen Caine also said the attacks fell “below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point”.
But he warned: “No adversary should mistake our current restraint with a lack of resolve.”
However, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said: “We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even begun yet.”
The country’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has also said both the US and the UAE “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire”.
Tehran has released a new map of what it said was an expanded maritime area now under Iranian control, stretching beyond the strait and claiming lengthy sections of the UAE coastline.