RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Four foreign nationals were arrested and charged Thursday with transporting weapons believed to be Iranian-made on a ship seized by the U.S. Navy in the Arabian Sea last month. Two Navy SEALs were killed in the line of duty.
A criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Richmond alleges that the four defendants, all of whom had Pakistani identification cards, are accused of carrying the type of weapons used by Houthi rebels in recent attacks. It is claimed that they were transporting Iranian missile parts believed to be weapons.
“The flow of missiles and other advanced weapons from Iran to the Houthi rebels in Yemen threatens the peoples and interests of the United States and our partners in the region,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a news release. .
U.S. officials said Naval Special Warfare Pilot 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers boarded a boat on January 11 and slipped into a gap created by high waves between the ship and a SEAL fighter jet. As Chambers collapsed, Naval Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to save him, according to U.S. officials familiar with what happened.
Monaco said in an operation to thwart the defendants indicted today on suspicion of smuggling Iranian weapons that the Houthis could have used to target U.S. forces and threaten freedom of navigation and a vital artery of commerce. , two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the Justice Department is “using all legal authority to prevent the flow of weapons from Iran to the Houthi rebels, Hamas, and other groups that endanger the security of the United States and our allies.” We will hold those who promoted it accountable.” ”
Mohammad Palawan is charged with attempting to smuggle advanced missile components, including warheads, which he allegedly knew would be used by Houthi rebels against commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters. has been done. He is also charged with providing false information to U.S. Coast Guard personnel while aboard the vessel.
Palawan's co-defendants Mohammad Mazar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad were also charged with providing false information.
Palawan's attorney, Assistant Superintendent Amy Austin, said Palawan made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Thursday and is scheduled to appear again on Tuesday for a detention hearing. She declined to comment on the matter.
“Right now, he's just been indicted on two counts, so we're still in the early stages, so all we know is what's in the charges,” Austin said by phone Thursday.
Prosecutors said naval forces boarded a small, unflagged vessel, believed to be a dhow, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia on the night of January 11 and encountered 14 people on board.
The navy searched the dhow and found Iranian weapons that prosecutors allege included parts for intermediate-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles.
All 14 of the dhow's crew were transferred to the USS Lewis B. Puller after the Navy deemed the dhow unseaworthy. They were then brought back to Virginia, where criminal charges were filed against four and material witness warrants were filed against the remaining 10.
According to an FBI affidavit, the Navy had the right to board the dhow because it had conducted an approved “flag verification” to determine the country in which it was registered.
The dhow was determined to be flying without a flag and was considered a “stateless vessel” subject to U.S. law, the affidavit said.
The dhow crew admitted to leaving Iran, but at least one initially claimed to have left Pakistan, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that the crew had multiple satellite phone calls with members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Barakat reported from Falls Church, Virginia. Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed.
