A Pakistani national, Muhammad Pahlawan, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for his role in smuggling Iranian-made advanced arms to the Houthis. The deadly smuggling operation resulted in the deaths of two U.S. Navy SEALs during a boarding operation in the Arabian Sea. Pahlawan was found guilty of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and transporting explosive devices to the Houthis, while also threatening his crew members.
The U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS Lewis B. Puller boarded a small vessel on January 11, where Pahlawan and 14 others were found. During the search, Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead, was seized. The DOJ stated that the type of weaponry found was consistent with arms used by Houthi rebel forces targeting merchant and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Pahlawan lied to the boarding team and threatened his crew’s lives, leading to the deaths of two Navy SEALs, Christopher J. Chambers and Nathan Gage Ingram.
The Navy conducted an extensive search for the SEALs, but they were declared dead on January 22. Pahlawan’s operation, part of a larger smuggling scheme from August 2023 through January 2024, involved working with Iranian brothers affiliated with the IRGC to transport materials to Houthi rebels in Yemen. The U.S. secured arrest warrants for four foreign nationals, including Pahlawan, and they were transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia for trial.