Monday June 9, 2025
This undated photograph released by the U.S. military's Central Command shows what is described as Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen's Houthi seized off a vessel in the Arabian Sea. Four foreign nationals were charged Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, with transporting suspected Iranian-made weapons on a vessel intercepted by U.S. naval forces in the Arabian Sea last month. Two Navy SEALs died during the mission. (U.S. Central Command via AP, File)
Mogadishu (HOL) — A Pakistani man has been convicted by a U.S. federal jury for smuggling Iranian-made weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels through maritime routes off the coast of Somalia, in what U.S. officials describe as a critical blow to Iranian-backed arms trafficking networks.
Muhammad Pahlawan, 49, was found guilty Thursday in the Eastern District of Virginia on multiple terrorism-related charges, including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and aiding Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 22 and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.
The case stems from a U.S. Navy operation on Jan. 11, 2024, when forces aboard the USS Lewis B. Puller intercepted an unflagged dhow in the Arabian Sea near Somali waters. The vessel, captained by Pahlawan, was carrying 14 crewmembers and a large cache of Iranian weapons, including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile parts, and a warhead.
U.S. prosecutors said the weapons matched those used by Houthi forces in attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, particularly following the October 7 Hamas-led assault on Israel, which escalated regional tensions.
During the boarding, Pahlawan lied to U.S. forces and instructed his crew to do the same. He later threatened to kill them and harm their families if they cooperated with authorities.
Evidence presented in court revealed that from August 2023 to January 2024, Pahlawan made multiple smuggling trips coordinated with Shahab and Yunus Mir’kazei—two Iranian nationals affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The shipments involved nighttime transfers of weapons from Iran to other vessels off Somalia’s coast, with Pahlawan receiving payments and coordinates from his IRGC contacts.
The prosecution was led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Several federal agencies—including the FBI, Department of Defense, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service—provided investigative support.