Maham-3
Iranian moored naval mine with magnetic and acoustic sensors; deployed in the Strait of Hormuz.
Last refreshed: 11 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
If Iran can't locate its own Hormuz mines, who clears them and bears the risk?
Latest on Maham-3
- What are the Iranian mines blocking the Strait of Hormuz?
- Iran deployed Maham-3 moored mines and Maham-7 seabed limpet mines in Hormuz. US intelligence says Iran lost track of their placement and cannot reliably recover them.Source: New York Times / Wall Street Journal, cited in Lowdown update 65
- Can Iran's mines in Hormuz be cleared?
- Iran lacks the capability to remove the mines once located, and does not know where all of them are. Any clearance operation would require international minesweeping assets.Source: Lowdown update 65
- How many ships are stuck in the Persian Gulf because of mines?
- More than 600 vessels, including 325 oil tankers, remained stranded inside the Gulf as of 10 April 2026, with Hormuz transits at 5-7 per day against a pre-war baseline of 120-140.Source: Kpler, cited in Lowdown update 65
- What is the difference between the Maham-3 and Maham-7 mines?
- The Maham-3 is a moored mine with magnetic and acoustic sensors. The Maham-7 is a seabed limpet device designed to evade sonar detection.Source: Lowdown update 65
Background
The Maham-3 is an Iranian-manufactured moored contact and influence mine designed to detect vessels via their magnetic signature and acoustic emission. In April 2026, US intelligence officials confirmed that Iran deployed at least a dozen Maham-3 and Maham-7 mines in the Strait of Hormuz without maintaining a systematic record of every placement, leaving Tehran unable to reliably map or recover all of them. The IRGC's own corridor charts published on 9 April, routing traffic near Larak Island, have been interpreted by analysts as an indirect acknowledgement that Iran does not know which channels remain SAFE.
The Maham-3 operates as a moored mine: anchored to the seabed by a cable, it floats at a set depth in the shipping lane. Its dual-sensor design allows it to trigger on either magnetic anomaly or acoustic signature, making it effective against vessels with low magnetic signatures. The Maham-7 is a distinct model configured as a seabed limpet device with sonar-evading characteristics. Iran has acknowledged lacking the mine-clearance capability required to remove the devices once located.
The operational consequence is acute: more than 600 vessels, including 325 oil tankers, remained stranded inside the Gulf as of 10 April 2026, with Hormuz transits running at 5-7 per day against a pre-war baseline of 120 to 140. Kpler projects a ceiling of 10-15 transits per day even under full Ceasefire conditions. The mines effectively function as a passive blockade that Iran can no longer fully control.
