Yemen Monitor/ Washington/ Exclusive:
A US federal court has accused three men, including two Iranian brothers and a Pakistani national, for attempting to smuggle Iranian weapons to the Houthi group in Yemen to launch attacks on maritime shipping.
According to court documents, Shehab Mirkazi and Yunus Mirkazi work for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while Muhammad Bahlawan, a Pakistani national, allegedly worked for the Mirkazi brothers as the captain of a sailboat used as a smuggling vessel.
This marks the first time the United States has initiated a trial against smugglers of Iranian weapons to the Houthis since the start of an airstrike campaign against the group last January.
Bahlawan allegedly worked with Shehab to prepare the sailboat for multiple smuggling trips, and Shehab paid Bahlawan in Iranian rials from his bank account. Bahlawan allegedly arranged to receive payments from Shehab and Yunus in Iran and distributed the money to his family and others.
On the night of January 11, a US Central Command force operating from the USS Lewis B. Puller, including members of the US Coast Guard, boarded the sailboat off the coast of Somalia. Two US Coast Guard members were killed during the interception.
The US boarding team reportedly encountered 14 sailors on board, including Bahlawan. During their inspection of the vessel, the US boarding team found what is believed to be advanced Iranian-made weapons, which, according to preliminary analysis, include key components for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles. They say the type of weapons found on the vessel is consistent with those used by Houthi rebel forces in their recent attacks on commercial ships and US military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The seizure of advanced conventional weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthis was the first since Houthi attacks on commercial ships began in November 2023.
The Mirkazi brothers and Bahlawan were charged with conspiring to provide material support to Iran’s program to arm its proxies, resulting in the deaths of the soldiers, and conspiring to commit acts of violence against maritime navigation and shipping using advanced weapons.
Bahlawan was also charged with making false statements to US Coast Guard officers during their boarding of the sailboat regarding the ship’s captain and intimidating witnesses by threatening a member of the sailboat crew.
Bahlawan is currently awaiting trial, while Shahab and Yunus remain at large. If convicted, the three men face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The armed Yemeni Houthi group has been launching drone and missile attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea since November, saying it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians due to the brutal Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of attacks in which the Houthis have sunk two ships, seized another, and killed at least four sailors.
