A Pentagon briefing regarding Iran took an unusual turn on Tuesday when Defense Secretary had to refute an assertion that has trained marine mammals to carry out suicide attacks against US forces and commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
‘Kamikaze dolphins’: Here’s what US has said
- During a press briefing at the , alongside General Dan Caine, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth was inquired about the “reports of dolphins” that have surfaced in various news outlets following Iran’s assertion that it could deploy previously unutilized weapons in the ongoing conflict.
- The BBC reported in 2000 that Tehran had previously acquired dolphins trained for military purposes.
- “I can’t confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they [Iran] don’t,” stated.
- Caine then interjected to express that he had not heard about the concept of kamikaze dolphins and humorously remarked “like sharks with laser beams,” in a nod to the 1997 movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, where Mike Myers’ character Dr. Evil laments his inability to obtain “sharks with frickin’ laser beams on their heads”, ultimately having to resort to laser-equipped “mutant sea bass” to carry out his plans against the film’s hero due to the fact that sharks were listed as an endangered species.
- The Defense Secretary then remarked, “That’s what it is.”
