ALEXANDRIA, VA – A Pakistani national has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for his role in an Iranian weapons smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. Navy SEALs.
On June 5, 2025, a federal jury convicted Muhammad Pahlawan of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, aiding Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program, and transporting explosives to the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen. He was also convicted of threatening his crew during the mission.
According to court records, on Jan. 11, 2024, U.S. Navy forces operating from the USS Lewis B. Puller, including Navy SEALs and Coast Guard personnel, intercepted Pahlawan’s unflagged dhow off the coast of Somalia. The boarding team discovered Iranian-made ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile parts, and a warhead, consistent with weapons used by Houthi rebels in attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led assault on Israel.
During the interdiction, Pahlawan lied to U.S. forces, instructed other crewmembers to do the same, and made threats. Two Navy SEALs, Christopher Chambers and Nathan Gage Ingram, were killed during the operation.
Investigators determined that Pahlawan worked with Iranian nationals Shahab and Yunus Mir’kazei, both affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to coordinate and fund multiple smuggling voyages between August 2023 and January 2024.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
