Pakistani National Sentenced for Shipping Iran-Made Weapons to Houthis
A Pakistani national was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges relating to the transportation of Iranian-origin advanced conventional weaponry, DOJ announced Oct. 23. Muhammad Pahlawan was convicted in June of conspiracy to provide material support to terror groups, providing material support to Iran's weapons of mass destruction program, providing material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' weapons of mass destruction program and conspiring to ship explosive devices to the Houthi rebel group, DOJ said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
In January 2024, U.S. Central Command Navy forces boarded an unflagged vessel off the coast of Somalia, encountering 14 individuals, including Pahlawan, DOJ said. During a search of the ship, the boarding team "located and seized" the weaponry, which included "ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead." DOJ said this type of weaponry is consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebels.
DOJ said Pahlawan's January 2024 trip was part of a "larger operation," adding that from August 2023 to around January 2024, he worked with two Iranian brothers affiliated with the IRGC to "smuggle materials from Iran to other recipients including the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen."