Video filmed shows U.S. land mines, experts said. They were dispersed across a residential area in southern Iran. Photo courtesy of Reason2Resist.
The photographs, posted Thursday, show BLU-91/B anti-tank mines, deployed from aircraft using the Gator mine scattering system, the Washington Post reported.
The United States is the only party in the ongoing Iran war known to possess the system.
The mines were reportedly photographed outside Shiraz, about five kilometres from a cluster of Iranian ballistic missile sites.
“While these land mines are meant to target armoured vehicles, they can still be extremely dangerous to civilians,” Brian Castner, a weapons investigator with Amnesty International, said.
Iranian state media said at least one person had been killed and others wounded by what it described as “explosive packages that resemble cans”, warning residents to avoid suspicious metallic objects.
The images were shared online by Canadian independent journalist Dimitri Lascaris, who said he observed four such devices during a visit to a village near Shiraz while reporting from Iran with official permission, according to the Washington Post.
He also posted a photograph of what he said was a bloodstain at the site where witnesses reported a 31-year-old man had been killed.
The Iranian Health Ministry and Red Crescent have reported that US and Israeli strikes on Iran have left at least 1,937 deaths and over 24,800 injuries from 28 February to March 27. This total includes at least 240 women and 212 children.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has reported a total of 3,389 deaths by March 27. Their breakdown includes: Civilians: 1,527 (including at least 228 children); Military Personnel: 1,167; and Unclassified: 695.
Scatterable land mines are explosive devices delivered remotely — typically by aircraft, artillery, rockets, or drones — rather than being manually planted.
They can include both anti-tank mines, designed to disable vehicles, and anti-personnel mines, which target individuals.
Many are equipped with self-destruct or self-deactivation mechanisms intended to reduce the long-term danger, but failure rates mean some can remain active and pose risks to civilians.
Anti-personnel mines are banned under the Ottawa Treaty, which prohibits their use, production, stockpiling, and transfer. More than 160 countries are party to the treaty, but key military powers — including the United States — have not joined.
Anti-tank mines are not outright banned, but their use is regulated under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which restricts how mines can be deployed, including requirements to minimise harm to civilians.
Even where not explicitly prohibited, the use of scatterable mines is governed by international humanitarian law, which requires parties to a conflict to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to avoid indiscriminate weapons. Their wide-area effect and the risk of unexploded devices have made their use highly controversial.
Earlier today, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had found and dismantled more than 120 unexploded cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs are weapons that open in mid-air to disperse dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions over a wide area and are banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Similarly, some major military powers — including the United States — have not joined, meaning the weapons are not universally outlawed.
Even for non-signatories, their use is widely criticized due to the risk posed to civilians.
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