Pakistani National Convicted of Smuggling Weapons to Houthis in Yemen
A Pakistani national was convicted last week of smuggling "Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry" meant for the Houthis in Yemen, DOJ announced. Muhammad Pahlawan will be sentenced on Sept. 22 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
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In January 2024, U.S. Navy forces boarded an unflagged vessel in the Arabian Sea off the cost of Somalia, encountering 14 people on the vessel, including Pahlawan, the ship's captain. Upon searching the vessel, U.S. authorities seized Iranian-made conventional weaponry, including "ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead," DOJ said.
DOJ said the type of weaponry found on the vessel is "consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebel forces during the time of the charged conspiracy against merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel." The agency said Pahlawan's January 2024 trip was part of a "larger operation" that included Pahlawan's work with two Iranian brothers affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to smuggle materials from Iran to Houthi forces in Yemen.