The US Defence Secretary has denied reports that Iran could use mine-carrying dolphins to attack US warships.
But in a bizarre press conference exchange, Pete Hegseth was deliberately oblique about whether the US Navy itself had "kamikaze dolphins".
Hegseth was asked to comment on reports from the Wall Street Journal about Iran's unconventional methods to wage war – including mine-carrying dolphins.
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"I cannot confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don't," Hegseth said.
The Defence Secretary was speaking with a straight face but appeared to be being droll.
At the same press conference, General Dan Caine made a wry remark.
"It's like sharks with laser beams," he said with a smile.
Caine said Iran's current military actions were "low level kinetics".
Global navies including the US have long utilised dolphins for underwater tasks for which human technology is ill-suited.
That includes identifying sea mines and other submerged objects.
But using dolphins as suicide weapons has no historical precedent.
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However, in World War II, the Soviet military trained dogs equipped with explosives to run underneath German tanks.
The program was suspended after too many Soviet vehicles were destroyed by mistake.
Earlier today, Donald Trump announced a suspension of Project Freedom, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz again.
The strategy had been announced two days earlier.
Meanwhile, think tank the Institute for the Study of War has concluded that the ceasefire has allowed Iran to rebuild its damaged military forces.
"The ceasefire has likely enabled Iran to rapidly recoup the operational setbacks that it has suffered," a report from the think tank read.
"Iran will likely be able to launch relatively more missiles more effectively in the days after the resumption of fighting.
"As fighting resumes, this increase should be understood as a result of the operational pause during the ceasefire rather than a broader failure of the campaign."
The war between the US and Iran is now in its eleventh week.
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