The Department of Justice announced charges against four foreign nationals Thursday for illegal weapons trafficking on behalf of Iran. In January two Navy SEALs, Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher Chambers and Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, were killed when they attempted to interdict weapons bound for the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
"According to court records, on the night of Jan. 11, U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS LEWIS B. PULLER, including Navy SEALs and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team East, boarded an unflagged dhow, a small vessel, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. boarding team encountered 14 individual mariners on the vessel," DOJ detailed.
"During a search of the dhow, the U.S. boarding team allegedly located and seized what is believed to be Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry. According to court records, preliminary analysis of the advanced conventional weaponry indicates that it includes critical components for medium range ballistic missiles (MRBM) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM), to include a warhead and propulsion and guidance components. The type of weaponry found aboard the dhow is allegedly consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebel forces in recent attacks on merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," they continued.
Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad are charged with a slew of international crimes, including lying to the U.S. Coast Guard and "intentionally and unlawfully transporting on board the dhow a warhead, knowing the warhead would be used by the Houthi rebel forces against commercial and naval vessels."
“The flow of missiles and other advanced weaponry from Iran to Houthi rebel forces in Yemen threatens the people and interests of America and our partners in the region,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco released in a statement. “Two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives in the operation that thwarted the defendants charged today from allegedly smuggling Iranian-made weapons that the Houthis could have used to target American forces and threaten freedom of navigation and a vital artery for commerce. Alongside our partners around the world, the Justice Department will continue to deploy every available tool to combat this grave threat.”
While the Biden administration has launched a number of counter attacks on Houthi targets in recent weeks, deterrence against Iran has not been restored in the region and commercial shipping through the Red Sea remains too dangerous.
3rd U.S. Reaper drone downed in as many months in the Middle East, representing ~$100 million in lost tech.
— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) February 21, 2024
MQ-9 can carry laser-guided bombs + Hellfire missiles—strike capabilities the U.S. has likely employed. This is the 2nd drone shot down by the Houthi; 3rd crashed in Iraq. pic.twitter.com/Iirj1L7P7S
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