By SDCN Editor
A criminal complaint was unsealed Thursday charging four foreign nationals after U.S. naval forces intercepted a vessel in the Arabian Sea that was transporting suspected Iranian-made advanced conventional weapons.
Two Navy SEALs lost their lives during the interdiction.
“The Justice Department extends our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the two Navy SEALs who lost their lives on January 11 while conducting an operation in the Arabian Sea,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The charges resulting from that interdiction make clear that the Justice Department will use every legal authority to hold accountable those who facilitate the flow of weapons from Iran to Houthi rebel forces, Hamas, and other groups that endanger the security of the United States and our allies.”
According to the U.S. Attorney General’s office, the flow of missiles and other advanced weaponry from Iran to Houthi rebel forces in Yemen threatened the people and interests of America and its partners in the region.
“The FBI will aggressively investigate and disrupt the Iranian Government’s attempts to provide Houthi rebels with missile components that are intended for use against U.S. military ships, merchant vessels, and Israel,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The defendants in this case allegedly transported suspected Iranian-made missile components for the type of weapons used by the Houthi rebels in recent attacks.”
According to court records, on the night of Jan. 11, U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS Lewis B. Puller, including Navy SEALs and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team East, boarded an unflagged dhow, a small vessel, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. boarding team encountered 14 individual mariners on the vessel.
During a search of the dhow, the U.S. boarding team allegedly located and seized what is believed to be Iranian-made advanced conventional weapons. According to court records, preliminary analysis of the advanced conventional weaponry indicates that it includes critical components for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, including a warhead and propulsion and guidance components. The type of weaponry found aboard the dhow is allegedly consistent with the weapons used by the Houthi rebel forces in recent attacks on merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
According to court records, the Navy brought the fourteen mariners aboard the USS Lewis B. Puller after determining the dhow was unsafe and unseaworthy. On Feb. 11, the United States obtained arrest warrants for four of the mariners who were aboard the dhow — specifically, defendants Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah, and Izhar Muhammad. Pakistani identification cards allegedly were found on the dhow for each of the four defendants. The United States also obtained ten material witness warrants for the remaining individuals aboard the vessel.
The defendants and material witnesses were transferred from the USS Lewis B. Puller to the Eastern District of Virginia. The four defendants and eight of the 10 material witnesses made their initial appearances before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Richmond Thursday.
Muhammad Pahlawan is charged with (1) intentionally and unlawfully transporting on board the dhow a warhead, knowing the warhead would be used by the Houthi rebel forces against commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters; and (2) providing materially false information to U.S. Coast Guard officers during the boarding of the dhow regarding the vessel’s crew and cargo. Co-defendants Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah, and Izhar Muhammad were also charged with providing materially false information to U.S. Coast Guard officers during the boarding of the dhow regarding the vessel’s crew and/or cargo.
Pahlawan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted of unlawfully transporting a warhead, and all four defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of the false statements offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Washington Field Office and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the case, with significant assistance provided by the Department of Defense, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Navy, Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security, including the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
