Pakistani National Sentenced to 40 Years for Smuggling Iranian Arms
A Pakistani national has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in smuggling Iranian-made advanced conventional weapons.
On October 16, U.S. District Judge David J. Novak sentenced Muhammad Pahlawan for his involvement in the transportation of Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead.
The charges against Pahlawan include conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, providing material support and resources to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program, providing material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ weapons of mass destruction program, conspiring to and indeed transporting explosive devices to the Houthis knowing those explosives would be used to cause harm, and threatening his crew.
Pahlawan’s crime dates back to January 11, 2024, when U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS LEWIS B. PULLER boarded an unflagged dhow in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The U.S. boarding team encountered 14 individual mariners on the vessel, including Pahlawan.
During the search, the U.S. boarding team located and seized Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, which is consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebel forces during the time of the charged conspiracy against merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.
Pahlawan lied to the boarding team, instructed other crew members to lie, and eventually threatened the lives of the crew members and their families. Two Navy SEALs, Christopher Chambers and Nathan Gage Ingram, lost their lives during the interdiction.
This is not Pahlawan’s first offense, as he worked with two Iranian brothers, Shahab Mir’kazei and Yunus Mir’kazei, affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to smuggle materials from Iran to other recipients, including the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen.
Pahlawan was sentenced on October 16, 2025, by U.S. District Judge David J. Novak in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Violent Crime|Public Corruption|Weapons
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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