Images and footage posted on social media on Thursday by an independent journalist, as well as semiofficial Iranian news media, appear to show American antitank mines in two locations in southern Iran.
They appear to be American BLU-91 antitank mines, which are bundled together with BLU-92 antipersonnel mines and dispensed by a 500-pound cluster bomb that breaks apart midair, spreading the munitions and creating an instant minefield.
Their discovery, in the village of Kafari, near the city of Shiraz, was reported earlier by the investigative collective Bellingcat.
The New York Times has verified the location of these mines, which were a little more than a quarter-mile apart and a few miles from the Shiraz South Missile Base, but it has not been able to determine when and how they were dispersed — or by whom.
The mines can be dropped only by warplanes flying overhead. Given that the mines are packaged as a cluster weapon, they are banned by over 100 countries.
The U.S. military calls this cluster bomb “Gator.”
It is unclear whether the mines were aimed at the ballistic missile site miles to the south but fell well short of it, or if the target was a location in the village.
The U.S. military’s Central Command declined a request for comment on Friday regarding whether the U.S. forces were using the weapons in their war against Iran.
The only conflict in which the United States is known to have used Gator mines is the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when more than 1,300 Gator bombs were dropped, releasing approximately 116,000 mines on Kuwait and Iraq.
The BLU-91 mine has a magnetic sensor that will trigger a detonation when it senses a vehicle driving over it. With less than a pound and a half of explosive, the mine is designed to fire upward through the underbelly of a tank, where the vehicle has the least amount of armor protection.
The mines are designed to self-destruct after a preset amount of time, though in practice that does not always happen — leaving behind extremely hazardous duds that can explode if mishandled.
As of 2020, the Air Force had nearly 8,800 Gator cluster bombs in its inventory, and the Navy had just over 1,000.
Cluster weapons like the Gator have in the past been inaccurate in their delivery.
When dropped from high altitudes or in high winds during the gulf war, Gator bombs and other cluster munitions often drifted significantly off course and missed their targets.
After that war, the Pentagon developed a set of tail fins for cluster bombs that could steer the munition to a given location using GPS signals.
No imagery has surfaced from Iran that would offer clues as to whether a guidance kit was installed.
Video showing two mines in the backyard of two houses was posted by a Canadian independent journalist, Dimitri Lascaris, who was at the scene along with reporters from Iranian state media. Mr. Lascaris has been posting updates to a YouTube channel from inside the country over the last week.
Images published by Iran’s semiofficial news agencies Mehr News Agency and Tasnim News Agency show at least three mines in the streets of the village. In one video posted by Mehr News, the local authorities carried out a controlled detonation on what was apparently an unexploded munition.
Gator and other cluster munitions are banned by a 2008 treaty ratified by 112 nations, though not by the United States, Iran or Israel.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has since weakened international norms against their use.
The Biden administration transferred large numbers of cluster munitions to Ukraine for use in its war with Russia, which has used the weapons extensively in Ukraine.
In March 2025, Lithuania formally withdrew from the Convention on Cluster Munitions, citing the threat posed by Russia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement at the time criticizing Lithuania’s exit from the treaty, saying that it “weakens vital protections for civilians and risks exacerbating the threats posed by these weapons, which cause unacceptable harm.”
On March 16, Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of Central Command, released a video that condemned an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv with what he said were “cluster bombs,” calling them “an inherently indiscriminate type of munition.”
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy.
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