US appears to be dropping anti-tank mines in Iranian territory near Shiraz, analysts say

The US may have dropped anti-tank mines in a southern village Iranopen source research group Bellingcat reported on Thursday, as images posted on social media appear to show landmines protecting American BLU-91/B tanks in the southern Shiraz area.

Iranian media reported that “explosive packages” slightly larger than cans of tuna were dropped by planes in the area, and that some exploded after being intercepted.

A number of people were killed by the weapons, Iran state TV said, and urged members of the public to report their locations to authorities and not to touch them.

CBS News could not independently verify the images, and US Central Command declined to comment when asked if the US had installed the weapons.

Bellingcat quoted three independent weapons experts as saying that the weapons shown by Iranian state media looked like BLU-91/B mines, delivered by American anti-tank systems. It noted that the US is the only party in the Iran war known to have Gator Scatterable Mines, a system that uses BLU-91/B devices.

The BLU-91/B anti-tank mines are designed to be triggered by a large moving vehicle and disrupt the mine’s magnetic field, Richard Weir, senior adviser in the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, told CBS News.

Weir warned, however, that the mines could be detonated by other types of vehicles, and have a self-destructive zone that could mean they detonate hours or days after being dropped.

“So there are many different things about this mine that make it very dangerous for people who may come into contact with it, anyone who comes into contact with it, including the fact that it will automatically detonate on anyone who is nearby without knowing it is there,” said Weir.

BLU-91/B mines are anti-vehicle mines, unlike anti-personnel mines, which are banned under the UN Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction. More than 100 countries have signed that convention, although the US has not.

Anti-personnel mines are “generally small,” Weir said, explaining, “they are devices activated by one person, by their presence or proximity to a weapon.”

“Anti-tank and anti-vehicle mines are not included as part of the agreement itself, but they present the same risk, because they are not selective between targets,” he said.

The US has not used anti-tank mines in any meaningful way since the first Gulf War in 1991, Weir said, and has not used anti-personnel mines since 2002 in Afghanistan.

“This is a rare occurrence,” Weir told CBS News. “So the effects of this are almost invariably devastating to the community. And these are the types of things, the effects of which on affected communities are not just days or even months but often many, many years.”