Could Iran use 'kamikaze dolphins' against the US in the Strait of Hormuz?


Issued on: 06/05/2026 - 

04:23 min From the show

As US-Iran tensions escalate around the Strait of Hormuz, a journalist at a Pentagon briefing this week asked top US officials an out-of-the ordinary question: whether Tehran could deploy "kamikaze dolphins" against US warships. The idea isn't as far-fetched as it seems, as multiple countries have a history of using marine mammals for military purposes.

The question stems from a Wall Street Journal report published last week. Citing Iranian officials, it said Iran could use "previously unused weapons to attack US warships, from submarines to mine-carrying dolphins".

Though Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that Iran had these in their possession, he refused to "confirm or deny" whether the US does, and Tehran was quick to troll Washington online, with its embassy in Hyderabad posting an AI-generated "dolphin bomber" on its official X account.
A long history of military marine mammals

Military marine mammals - especially bottlenose dolphins - have been around for decades, with the Soviet Union in particular known for its dolphin training programme.

There have been reports of evidence that North Korea possesses a naval marine mammal programme as far back as 2015, as well as reports that the Russian Navy deployed trained dolphins in both 2018 to aid in the Syrian civil war, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Rumours have floated for over two decades that Iran has "kamikaze dolphins" in its arsenal, after a Russian dolphin trainer claimed to have sold a group of Soviet "killer dolphins" to Tehran in 2000. But it's not known if they are still alive.

The US also has a "Marine Mammal Program", training dolphins and sea lions to detect and recover objects underwater, including mines.

Vedika Bahl goes through whether "kamikaze dolphins" are a myth or a military reality.