The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has a stranglehold on the Iranian economy. Behind the scenes in Tehran, a fierce political battle has erupted between moderates who want a deal with Trump and hardliners who are calling for retaliation and escalation. The latter appear prepared to use previously unused resources to increase pressure on the US. Even a downright bizarre scenario is on the table: Iranian officials are seriously considering sending kamikaze dolphins against the American fleet, ‘The Wall Street Journal’ reveals.
Karen Van Eyken
Journalist at HLN
On one side are the moderates, with President Masoud Pezeshkian in the lead. They want to put their guns to rest and make a deal with President Trump. They are betting that Washington actually wants to put the war behind it as quickly as possible. Moreover, the moderates feel the hot breath of their own population on their necks. Nationalist pride has cooled considerably. The ordinary Iranian is war-weary.
Moderates want a deal. They are well aware that any more destruction is simply political suicide
“The regime must do something to break this impasse,” explains Iran expert Saeid Golkar (University of Tennessee) in ‘The Wall Street Journal’. “Moderates want a deal. They are well aware that more destruction is simply political suicide.”
In contrast, there is an increasingly vocal camp of hardliners, led by the ultra-conservative former presidential candidate Saeed Jalili. For them, this blockade is a direct act of war that must be responded to with military action. Their solution is radical: attack, force a new crisis and send global oil prices soaring. Only with that tough approach will you force Trump to his knees, they argue.
If those hardliners have their way, Tehran may not shy away from any means to hit the American fleet. For example, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards are considering using submarines and cutting strategic telephone cables at the bottom of the strait. Something like that could disrupt global internet traffic.
But the most striking scenario involves dolphins armed with sea mines. It would not be the first time that the regime has considered using kamikaze dolphins. In 2000, the BBC revealed that Iran had bought trained dolphins from the navy of the former Soviet Union. At the time, these animals were specially trained to attack enemy divers with harpoons on their backs, and to carry out kamikaze attacks by delivering explosives to enemy ships.
The American blockade is no longer seen there as an alternative to war, but simply as another form of it
As the clock ticks and the Iranian economy continues to crumble, the perspective in Tehran is shifting. “People there no longer see the American blockade as an alternative to war, but simply as another form of it,” warns Hamidreza Azizi, Middle East specialist at the Berlin research institute SWP.
This means that a hard turnaround in Tehran may only be a matter of time. Azizi puts it sharply: “The moment is approaching when Iranian leaders will simply see a new conflict as the least damaging option. Better that than continuing to tolerate a long-term blockade.”
