Amid the Iran talks, the Strait of Hormuz is littered with about a dozen Iranian mines, US officials say.
Washington – In the middle The Trump administration needs Tehran to maintain the free flow of trade in the Strait of Hormuz, US officials told CBS News that there are at least a dozen underwater mines in the vital strait, according to current US intelligence research.
U.S. officials, who have seen the current U.S. intelligence assessment and spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security issues, said the mines currently being used by Iran in the crisis are the Iranian-produced Maham 3 and Maham 7 Limpet Mine.
Another American official said the number was less than a dozen.
Monday morning, President Trump withdrew his threat to “destroy” the power plants if Iran continues to block the flow. Mr. Trump said his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were involved in talks with Tehran.
“That will open soon, if this works,” the president said of the strait and the latest diplomatic tactic. Mr. Trump said the flow of oil in the crisis would be jointly controlled “by me and the Ayatollah, whoever the Ayatollah is.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has denied that there have been direct talks. Iranian media accused Mr. Trump wants to buy time.
The Maham 3 is a towed sea mine that uses magnetic and acoustic sensors to detect nearby ships without physical contact. It can engage targets up to 10 meters away, analyzing movement to determine the most effective time to activate it. An electronic timer controls when the mine is activated, while its magnetic and dual sound sensors can be configured by coding, allowing flexible operation and simplification, according to the Collective Awareness to Unexploded Ordnance website, a platform that connects the explosives disposal community to share information and promote awareness related to global development.
First publicly displayed at an arms show in 2015, the Iranian-made Maham 7, known as the “sticky mine” is a rare naval weapon. The device, a compact high-explosive limpet mine designed to land near the ocean, relies on a combination of magnetic acoustic and three-axis sensors to detect nearby ships. Its intended targets included medium-sized ships, landing craft and small submarines.
Flexible in use, it can be released from surface ships or dropped by airplanes and helicopters, even in very shallow water. The Maham 7’s shape was designed to scatter incoming sonar waves that make it difficult for anti-mine systems to detect, allowing it to remain hidden until the target passes the range, according to the Collective Awareness to Unexploded Ordnance website.
Contacted by CBS News on Monday, US Central Command declined to comment.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: “The Department of Defense has destroyed more than 40 minesweepers to stop Iran from trying to disrupt the free flow of energy. And thanks to President Trump, many countries around the world have agreed to help in this effort.”
Last week, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the US Central Command, the main unit conducting the US military campaign against Iran, continues to target and destroy mine storage facilities and naval ammunition storage facilities.
“We continue to hunt and kill floating assets, including more than 120 ships and 44 minelayers, and the pressure will continue,” Caine said.
Caine reiterated the US military’s targeting Kharg Island where Iran has mine storage facilities and shipping facilities. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command has overseen more than 90 precision strikes in that region.
Earlier this month, CBS News report that Iran was preparing to plant ship mines in the Strait of Hormuz in an effort to further disrupt important shipping lanes.
U.S. officials told CBS News that Iran has been using small craft that can carry two to three mines each to detonate them. Although an official account of Iran’s sea mine stockpile is not publicly available, estimates over the years have ranged from around 2,000 to 6,000 sea mines produced mostly by Iran, China or Russia—even mines in the former Soviet Union. A 2019 report from the Defense Intelligence Agency said Iran has a stockpile of more than 5,000 sea mines that can be deployed quickly by “small, high-speed boats equipped as mine countermeasures.”
After a report from CBS News, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “If Iran has removed any mines from the Strait of Hormuz, and we have no reports that they have, we want them removed, ASAP!”
On the same day, the US Central Command released an unexplained video of an airstrike on 16 miners near the Strait of Hormuz.
Some news outlets, including CNN and Reuters reported earlier this month that Iran had laid mines.
Meanwhile, the residual effects of the US-Israeli-led war with Iran have been felt abroad and in the United States as the war enters its fourth week.
About 20% of the world’s oil supply ran out before the outbreak of the war on February 28. The price of domestic oil has been rising slowly since, rising by an average of one dollar a liter, according to GasBuddy.com.
A recent CBS News poll shows that most Americans feel bad about the ongoing war with Iran. While 43% said the conflict with Iran was “going very well,” 57% reported it was “somewhat worse.” Overall, 62 percent disapprove of Mr. Trump on the Iran war and 38% say they approve.
Shares it gathered on Monday, backing off after Mr. Trump has said he will delay his Iran deadline because of difficulties over his request for peace talks with Tehran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,000 points, up 2.4% to 46,654. The broader market followed suit: the S&P 500 gained 2.1 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite, which is heavily weighted in technology companies, advanced 2.4 percent.
