The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it was indicting two Iranian brothers and a Pakistani national in connection with the January deaths of two Navy SEALs during a U.S. military operation off the coast of Somalia.
Shahab Mirkhazei and Yunus Mirkhazei, who serve in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps according to federal prosecutors, and Mohammed Pahwan, are each charged with conspiracy to commit death by providing and providing material support to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction programs and conspiracy to commit violence against maritime navigation and shipping involving weapons of mass destruction resulting in death.
Palawan is currently in custody and the Iranians are fugitives awaiting trial. All three face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on federal charges.
The Justice Department said Palawan “allegedly worked for the Mirkazei brothers as the captain of a smuggling dhow named ‘Yunus’ owned by Shahab.”
US Navy SEAL falls into Arabian Sea, another died trying to rescue him, officials confirm
This undated photo shows a vessel boarded by naval units from U.S. Central Command on January 11 of this year. Two Navy SEALs were killed during the operation, which uncovered what the Justice Department said was “likely to be advanced conventional weapons of Iranian origin.” (U.S. Central Command)
“On the night of Jan. 11, Navy SEALs and U.S. Coast Guard personnel from the USS Lewis B. Puller, a naval unit of U.S. Central Command, boarded a dhow off the coast of Somalia,” the paper continued. “Two Navy SEALs were killed during the interdiction operation.”
“As alleged, the U.S. boarding team encountered 14 crew members, including Pahlawan. During their search of the dhow, the U.S. boarding team allegedly located and seized advanced conventional weapons suspected to be of Iranian origin,” the Justice Department added. “Preliminary analysis of the advanced conventional weapons indicates that they included critical components for intermediate-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, including warheads, propulsion and guidance systems.”
The Justice Department also said “the types of weapons found on the dhow appear to be consistent with those used by Houthi rebels in recent attacks on commercial and U.S. military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.”
According to federal prosecutors, Palawan faces additional charges of “providing materially false information about the captain of the dhow to U.S. Coast Guard officials while on board the dhow and intimidating a witness for allegedly threatening one of the dhow’s crew members.”
Two Navy SEALs killed, four charged after suspected Iranian weapons seized on ship
At left, Naval Special Warfare Engineer First Class Christopher J. Chambers, and at right, Naval Special Warfare Engineer Private 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, were killed during a nighttime boarding operation off the coast of Somalia. (U.S. Navy)
It added that Palawan “coordinated with Shahab to prepare the dhows for multiple smuggling voyages and Shahab made payments to Palawan in Iranian rial from a bank account in Shahab’s name.”
“Palawan is accused of receiving money from Shahab and Yunus in Iran and arranging for the distribution of that money to their families and others,” the Justice Department said.
The Navy identified the two Navy SEALs in January, who were declared dead days after going missing, as Naval Special Warfare Engineer 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers and Naval Special Warfare Engineer 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram.
“Our condolences go out to Chris and Gage’s family, friends and teammates during this extremely difficult time. They were exceptional warriors, valued teammates and close friends to many in the Naval Special Warfare community,” Capt. Blake L. Cheney, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group One, said at the time.
“As part of the shift in U.S. force posture in the region and to address threats posed by Iran and Iran-backed groups, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on August 8,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Thursday. (U.S. Central Command)
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Ahead of the indictment announcement, U.S. Central Command on Thursday released images of Air Force F-22 Raptors arriving in the Middle East “as part of a shift in U.S. force posture in the region to counter threats posed by Iran and Iran-backed groups.”
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
