U.S. officials familiar with current intelligence assessments told CBS News that at least a dozen Iranian-manufactured mines are positioned in the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly 20% of global oil supply passed before the war began on February 28. A second official put the count below a dozen.
U.S. forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/371unKYiJs
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 10, 2026
The mines have been identified as the Maham 3 and Maham 7. The Maham 3 is a moored naval mine equipped with magnetic and acoustic sensors that can engage targets within approximately 10 feet without physical contact.
The Maham 7 is a seabed limpet mine first displayed publicly in 2015, combining acoustic and three-axis magnetic sensors with a hull geometry engineered to scatter incoming sonar waves and resist detection by minesweeping systems.
Both can be deployed from surface vessels or aircraft, according to the Collective Awareness to Unexploded Ordnance website.
Iran’s Defense Council warned Monday that any attack on its southern coasts or islands would result in “all access routes in the Gulf to be mined with various types of sea mines, including floating mines that can be released from the coast.”
The council stated the entire Persian Gulf “will practically be in a situation similar to the Strait of Hormuz for a long time,” and added that non-belligerent states may only transit the strait through coordination with Tehran.
It noted that more than 100 minesweepers failed to clear a limited mine deployment during the 1980s Gulf conflict.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters on March 19 that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has destroyed 44 mine-laying vessels. “We continue to hunt and kill afloat assets, including more than 120 vessels and 44 mine layers, and the pressure will continue,” Caine said.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed the figure at over 40 minelayers destroyed and said CENTCOM has conducted more than 90 precision strikes in the Kharg Island region.
Two of the U.S. Navy’s three dedicated mine countermeasure vessels are undergoing maintenance, ABC News reported.
U.S. forces are destroying Iranian naval targets that threaten international shipping in and near the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/qR6FJyI5ZS
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 19, 2026
President Trump on Monday extended his ultimatum deadline by five days, saying envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had engaged in negotiations with Tehran. “That’ll be open very soon, if this works,” Trump said. He added that oil flow through the strait would be jointly managed by “me and the Ayatollah, whoever the Ayatollah is.”
Iran’s foreign ministry denied direct talks had taken place. Stocks rallied on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing more than 1,000 points.
A 2019 Defense Intelligence Agency report put Iran’s mine stockpile at more than 5,000, deployable via high-speed small boats.
