RICHMOND, VA- As Law Enforcement Today recently reported, two Navy SEALS lost their lives during a mission last month when Navy forces came across an unflagged vessel on January 11 in the Arabian Sea. Last week, four foreign nationals were charged with transporting suspected Iranian-made weapons.
The SEALS had been onboard the USS Lewis B. Puller, which was deployed to the area in response to attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels out of Yemen. It is being used as a mobile military base from which several operations launch.
The Houthis claimed that they hit the Puller on January 29 of this year, but the United States denied those claims.
Houthi attacks on American vessels and outposts have been increasing in the recent weeks, including a recent attack on an oil tanker, ships, and drones. Three American soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded at the end of January following an attack on a military outpost in Jordan.
Those three were identified as Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The Department of Defense said the three were killed when a "one-way uncrewed aerial system impacted their container housing units."
According to the US Naval Institute, "The Houthis have said they will attack any ships that stop at Israeli ports or are connected to Israel. Following coordinated strikes by the U.S. and United Kingdom on Jan. 11, the Houthis also added American and British warships to their targets."
This threat includes commercial ships along with those from the military.
The small vessel intercepted on January 11, described as a dhow, had 14 people on board. According to prosecutors, upon completion of a search of the vessel, Navy forces discovered weapon components that were made in Iran. The components included are for anti-ship cruise missiles and medium range ballistic missiles.
An FBI affidavit states that Navy forces were entitled to board the ship as they were conducting an “flag verification” which is authorized to determine the origin country and registration of the dhow. The affidavit said that the dhow was not flying a flag and was deemed a “vessel without nationality,” and therefore subject to U.S. law.
Additionally, the affidavit stated that crew members were in communication via satellite phone with a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. The communication occurred multiple times. While at least one of the sailors were insistent that the dhow departed from Pakistan, other sailors did admit that they had departed from Iran.
Upon determination by Navy forces that the dhow was not seaworthy, all 14 foreign sailors were brought onboard the USS Lewis B. Puller. Upon the ship’s return to Virginia, material witness warrants were filed against 10 of the 14, and criminal charges were filed against the other four.
Last week, the U.S. District Court in Richmond unsealed the criminal complaint, which alleges that all four of the defendants were in possession of Pakistani identification cards and were transporting the missile components.
Muhammad Pahlawan has been charged with knowingly providing false information to U.S. Coast Guard officials while they were boarding the vessel. He is also charged with attempting to smuggle advanced missile components, to include a warhead that he allegedly knew was going to be used by Houthi rebels against naval and commercial vessels in waters in and around the Red Sea.
Also charged with provision of false information to the U.S. Coast Guard are: Izhar Muhammad, Mohammad Mazhar, and Ghufran Ullah.
In a news release, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “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.”
U.S. officials that are familiar with the incident said that Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers slipped when boarding the dhow and fell into the gap created by high seas between the SEALs’ combatant craft and the dhow. Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram attempted to save Chambers, and both men lost their lives.
“Two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives in the operation that twarted 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,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
The SEALS had been onboard the USS Lewis B. Puller, which was deployed to the area in response to attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels out of Yemen. It is being used as a mobile military base from which several operations launch.
The Houthis claimed that they hit the Puller on January 29 of this year, but the United States denied those claims.
Houthi attacks on American vessels and outposts have been increasing in the recent weeks, including a recent attack on an oil tanker, ships, and drones. Three American soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded at the end of January following an attack on a military outpost in Jordan.
Those three were identified as Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The Department of Defense said the three were killed when a "one-way uncrewed aerial system impacted their container housing units."
According to the US Naval Institute, "The Houthis have said they will attack any ships that stop at Israeli ports or are connected to Israel. Following coordinated strikes by the U.S. and United Kingdom on Jan. 11, the Houthis also added American and British warships to their targets."
This threat includes commercial ships along with those from the military.
The small vessel intercepted on January 11, described as a dhow, had 14 people on board. According to prosecutors, upon completion of a search of the vessel, Navy forces discovered weapon components that were made in Iran. The components included are for anti-ship cruise missiles and medium range ballistic missiles.
An FBI affidavit states that Navy forces were entitled to board the ship as they were conducting an “flag verification” which is authorized to determine the origin country and registration of the dhow. The affidavit said that the dhow was not flying a flag and was deemed a “vessel without nationality,” and therefore subject to U.S. law.
Additionally, the affidavit stated that crew members were in communication via satellite phone with a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. The communication occurred multiple times. While at least one of the sailors were insistent that the dhow departed from Pakistan, other sailors did admit that they had departed from Iran.
Upon determination by Navy forces that the dhow was not seaworthy, all 14 foreign sailors were brought onboard the USS Lewis B. Puller. Upon the ship’s return to Virginia, material witness warrants were filed against 10 of the 14, and criminal charges were filed against the other four.
Last week, the U.S. District Court in Richmond unsealed the criminal complaint, which alleges that all four of the defendants were in possession of Pakistani identification cards and were transporting the missile components.
Muhammad Pahlawan has been charged with knowingly providing false information to U.S. Coast Guard officials while they were boarding the vessel. He is also charged with attempting to smuggle advanced missile components, to include a warhead that he allegedly knew was going to be used by Houthi rebels against naval and commercial vessels in waters in and around the Red Sea.
Also charged with provision of false information to the U.S. Coast Guard are: Izhar Muhammad, Mohammad Mazhar, and Ghufran Ullah.
In a news release, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “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.”
U.S. officials that are familiar with the incident said that Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers slipped when boarding the dhow and fell into the gap created by high seas between the SEALs’ combatant craft and the dhow. Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram attempted to save Chambers, and both men lost their lives.
“Two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives in the operation that twarted 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,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
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Comments
2024-02-27T00:25-0600 | Comment by: Karen
Can we just end this already. Houthis are lucky I'm not in charge of their fate.