US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth answered queries about whether Tehran may use "dolphins" to oppose the US Navy in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East amid ongoing worries about Iranian mines interfering with maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz. It appears that the concept isn't all that implausible because a number of countries, including the US, have apparently employed "kamikaze dolphins" in combat zones in the past, but not as weapons.
Hegseth, however, rejected the notion, stating that while he could "confirm" that Iran lacked dolphins for use in operations, he would neither "confirm nor deny" whether the US possessed kamikaze dolphins.

On April 30, the Wall Street Journal published an article alleging that Iranian officials had stated that the country could use "mine-carrying dolphins" to attack US warships. Whether Iran possesses that capability is unclear.
In contrast, the US Navy has been training dolphins to detect explosives for decades. The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Department includes the US Marine Mammal Program. However, the US-trained dolphins are not kamikaze dolphins, which means they do not give their lives to explode mines. Rather, their attention is on detection.

CNN, however, stated that dolphins are not being used by the US Navy in its attempts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, citing a source.
The Dolphin Conflict
There are other countries than the US that employ marine mammals for military objectives. Dolphins have been deployed by Russia to protect ports in the past.
In 2000, Iran also bought dolphins, according to a BBC investigation. However, those dolphins are definitely too elderly to be utilised right now. Furthermore, there is no proof that Tehran has an active dolphin program.
Since 1959, the US Navy has run its own dolphin program. The program teaches California sea lions and bottlenose dolphins how to find and retrieve things underwater.The underwater drones are described as "no match for the animals."According to the website, "Dolphins are trained to search for and mark the location of undersea mines that could threaten the safety of those on board military or civilian ships." Sea lions and dolphins both have exceptional low-light vision and underwater directional hearing, which enable them to detect and track undersea targets, even in dark or murky waters.