Muhammad Pahlawan was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Oct. 16 for transporting Iranian-made advanced weapons destined for Houthi forces in Yemen, the U.S. Department of Justice stated on Thursday.
A federal jury convicted the 49-year-old Pakistani national on June 5 of multiple terrorism-related charges, including providing material support to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps weapons of mass destruction programs and conspiring to deliver explosive devices to the Houthis.
U.S. forces intercepted Pahlawan’s dhow in the Arabian Sea off the Somali coast on Jan 11, 2024, and uncovered Iranian-made ballistic-missile components, anti-ship missile parts and a warhead aboard the vessel.
“The type of weaponry found aboard the dhow 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 Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel,” the Justice Department stated.
The U.S. naval forces found 14 people aboard, including Pahlawan, who was reportedly posing as a fisherman. The Justice Department said he lied to the U.S. forces, told fellow crew members to do so and “eventually threatened the lives of the crewmembers and their families.”
“Two Navy SEALs, Christopher Chambers and Nathan Gage Ingram, lost their lives during the interdiction,” the Justice Department said.
