Pakistani man convicted in US for smuggling Iranian weapons to Houthis
A US federal jury has convicted a Pakistani national of smuggling Iranian-made advanced weaponry to Yemen’s Houthis and threatening witnesses, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Muhammad Pahlawan, 49, was arrested in January last year after US Navy forces boarded an unflagged dhow in the Arabian Sea and discovered ballistic missile parts, cruise missile components, and a warhead. The weapons were consistent with those used by the Houthis in attacks on commercial and military vessels.
Prosecutors said Pahlawan worked with two Iranian nationals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to move arms from Iran to Yemen via ship-to-ship transfers off the Somali coast. He was convicted on multiple charges, including providing material support to terrorists and Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program.
Pahlawan is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22.
