Pakistani citizen sentenced to 40 years for smuggling Iranian arms
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A Pakistani citizens He has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for running a smuggling ring that supplied advanced Iranian-made weapons to the Houthis following a deadly mission in the Arabian Sea that led to the deaths of two US Navy SEALs.
A federal jury convicted Mohammad Pahlwan on June 5, 2025, of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists. Iran’s mass destruction programincluding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was also found guilty of conspiring to deliver explosive devices to the Houthis, intending to use them to cause harm, and threatening his crew.
According to court records, US Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS Lewis B. Puller — along with Navy SEALs and members of the US Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team East — boarded a small vessel on Jan. 11.
The boarding team encountered 14 people on board, including the wrestler. During the search, they seized Iranian-made advanced conventional weapons, including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components and a warhead.
Some of the weapons and components found in smugglers’ containers. The Justice Department said the materials were consistent with those used by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in commercial and U.S. military strikes. (Department of Justice)
The DOJ said the type of weapons found on the ship were consistent with those used by Houthi rebel forces to target merchant and US military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 7 October 2023 Hamas attack On Israel.
Pahalwan lied to the boarding team and asked other crew members to lie, putting his life and that of his family at risk.
Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, left, and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram went missing this month during a nighttime boarding mission off the coast of Somalia. (US Navy)
Two Navy SEALs – Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram – died during the encounter. The DOJ said Ingram began climbing a ladder onto the boat when he slipped and fell into a chasm created by waves between the ship and the SEAL watercraft.
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As Ingram went down, Chambers jumped into the gap to save him.
Four foreign nationals were charged Thursday with carrying suspected Iranian-made weapons aboard a ship intercepted by the US Navy in the Arabian Sea last month. (Department of Justice)
The DOJ said the Navy conducted an extensive search to locate and rescue the seals, but they were finally pronounced dead on January 22.
Pahlwan’s trip that day was part of a larger operation, the DOJ explained, in which between August 2023 and January 2024 he worked with two Iranian brothers – Shahab Mirkazei and Yunus Mirkazei – to smuggle material related to the IRGC. Iran to recipients including Houthi rebel forces in Yemen.
A warhead was found on a ship accused of smuggling Iranian-made weapons. (Department of Justice)
He completed several smuggling missions by transporting cargo from Iran to the coast of Somalia, where he transferred to another vessel during nighttime ship-to-ship operations, the DOJ said.
Pahlwan worked with Shahab and Yunus to prepare ships for several smuggling missions, coordinated by them. Ship to ship transferAnd was paid for his role in the operation.
On February 11, 2024, the US obtained arrest warrants for four foreign nationals: Pahlwan, Mohammad Mazhar, Gufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad.
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The four found with Pakistani identity cards were transferred from the USS Lewis B. Fuller Eastern District of Virginia.
Mazhar, Ullah and Muhammad were also charged with providing materially false information to US Coast Guard officials during the boarding of the vessel regarding the vessel’s crew and/or cargo.
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