At a Pentagon briefing, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine mocked the idea as sounding like “sharks with laser beams” after reports tied it to possible Strait of Hormuz tactics.
The claim followed reporting that Iranian officials had discussed reviving a Cold War-era dolphin programme to carry mines toward enemy ships, though no confirmed evidence shows such a capability is active.
The US Navy has used dolphins to detect and mark mines, not attack targets, and experts note Hormuz’s dense commercial and military traffic would make any such tactic hard to execute.
How can the US Navy clear thousands of Iranian mines now that its specialized minesweeping fleet has been retired?
Has Iran's simple mine strategy already checkmated the world's most advanced navy in the Strait of Hormuz?