In addition to the usual questions about the progress of the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, at the Pentagon press conference on May 5, another curious question was added: “Is Iran using suicide dolphins?”
A reporter from The Day to day Wire asked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett to explain “reports of the use of kamikaze dolphins” in the conflict.
“I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of our own suicidal dolphins, but I can confirm that they do not have any,” Hegsett stated.
The frequent Dan Kaine, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, also spoke on the matter. “This sounds like a story about sharks equipped with laser beams, right?” he replied.
The officials’ comments were in reference to an article published five days earlier in the newspaper Wall Avenue Journal titled “Iran desperately seeks a solution to the US blockade it cannot break.”
The publication noted that the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed the deficiencies of the Iranian strategy to control the important route, and that Iran was looking for a way to compensate for them.
“Iranian officials claimed that Tehran could use never-before-used weapons, from submarines to mine-equipped dolphins, to attack American warships,” the report reads.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard has threatened to escalate tensions by cutting fiber optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz, a measure that would disrupt global web traffic,” the American newspaper warned.
making memory
While the military use of dolphins may seem far-fetched, this practice has been around for decades.
26 years ago, the BBC reported that Iran had purchased suicide dolphins from Ukraine.
The report indicated that Tehran had acquired animals trained by members of the defunct Soviet navy, but at the time it was not clear what they would do in the Persian Gulf.
Russian experts had trained dolphins and other aquatic mammals to attack enemy ships and divers. However, due to budget cuts after the collapse of the USSR, many of them were transferred to a private collection to perform shows for tourists.
His main trainer, in both military and civilian life, was Boris Zhurid, who began his career as a submarine officer and later graduated from a medical academy.
Back then, it was said that he sold all these aquatic animals to Iran because he could not afford to feed and maintain them.
“If I were a cruel person, I could stay in Sevastopol, but I can’t stand my animals going hungry,” Zhurid told the Russian newspaper. Komsomolskaya Pravda at that time.
“Their medicines, which cost thousands of dollars, have been sold out, and we no longer have fish or food supplements,” he explained.
A BBC report at the time claimed that a total of 27 animals, including porpoises, sea lions, seals and a beluga whale, as well as dolphins, were transported from Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula (then under Ukraine), to the Persian Gulf on a transport plane.
Four dolphins and a beluga whale were trained by Zhurid at a notorious Pacific naval facility before being transferred to Crimea in 1991.
The animals were trained to attack enemy divers with harpoons attached to their backs or to drag them to the surface to be captured.
Dolphins could also attack enemy ships with suicide attacks, carrying mines that exploded upon impact with the hull. It is said that these dolphins could distinguish between Soviet and foreign submarines by the sound of their respective propellers.
The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda He wrote then that Zhurid’s research was essentially military in nature and described the dolphins as “mercenaries.”
“In fact, Iran bought our former secret weapon from Ukraine at a bargain price,” he said.
The newspaper also recalled that the US has opposed some Russian military sales to Iran in the past.
Zhurdi then declared that he did not know the mission for which his dolphins would be used, but added: “I would go with God or even with the devil, as long as my animals are well.”
Besides Russia, the only other country known to train dolphins for military purposes is the US, which runs a marine mammal program in San Diego, California.
In recent years, similar efforts have been unofficially reported by some countries, including North Korea. Satellite images show the existence of dolphin cages in North Korea, which has raised speculation that Pyongyang is carrying out an equal program.
However, Russia and the US continue to have the most advanced and longest-established programs for the military use of marine mammals.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has increased its use of military dolphins in the port of Sevastopol to counter enemy divers and protect its naval fleet in the Black Sea.
“They obey orders, except when it comes to music”
The former president of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani—who governed the country between 1989 and 1997—wrote in his memoirs “Reforms in Times of Disaster” about a visit he made in 1990 to the place where the animals brought from the former USSR were taken.
“We visited the hotel park of Mr. Hossein Sabet in the southeast of the island (of Kish). The work to condition its green areas is progressing satisfactorily. The pools for marine animals are also being finished; several pools are already operational and “several elephants and sea lions, and dolphins” have been imported from Ukraine,” it reads.
“A group of Ukrainians who used to care for these animals accompany them to prepare and train the Iranians. During the visit to the pools, the caretaker of each animal showed us the skills they had learned; it was very interesting,” he added.
The former president, who died in 2017, denied in his memoirs the accusations about the military use of marine mammals.
“A frequent gave good explanations. He denied the news published in the Western media that stated that these animals had received military training to place or deactivate sea mines and that Iran had purchased them for this purpose,” reads his memoirs.
“He added that we had filed a complaint with the court and that the court would take action soon. He explained that most usually live for about forty years and that they have several offspring throughout their lives. Their diet consists of fish, shrimp and other marine animals,” he noted.
Rafsanjani indicated that “elephant seals weigh up to two tons, lions up to one ton, and whales up to three tons. In addition, they are harmless to humans. They can remain submerged between two and seven minutes, but seals can last up to forty-five minutes.”
“The majority were brought from the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and had to cool the water in the pools in summer. The catfish constantly scratched its body with its fins,” commented the former president, who in the last years of his life held positions such as the presidency of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for electing the country’s supreme leader.
“They are all intelligent and receive the orders of their keepers well and comply with them, but when it came to playing music, the dolphins did not obey. They will probably become a standard attraction,” he concluded.
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