Current:Home > News4 charged with transporting Iranian-made weapons face detention hearings in US court-LoTradeCoin
4 charged with transporting Iranian-made weapons face detention hearings in US court
View Date:2024-12-23 16:57:13
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Four crew members of an unflagged vessel that U.S. officials say was carrying Iranian-made missile components are scheduled to appear Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Virginia, where prosecutors are expected to argue they should be held without bond while they await trial.
The night of Jan. 11, U.S. Central Command Navy forces, including Navy SEALs, along with members of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team, boarded the vessel in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Somalia. Two Navy SEALs drowned during the operation.
U.S. officials said Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers slipped into the gap created by high waves between the vessel and the SEALs’ combatant craft. As Chambers fell, Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to try to save him, according to U.S. officials familiar with what happened. Efforts to find and rescue them were unsuccessful.
During a search of the ship, U.S. forces found and seized Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry, including critical parts for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, a warhead, and propulsion and guidance components, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. The agent said the items found are consistent with weaponry used by Houthi rebel forces in recent attacks on merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the region.
All four men were carrying Pakistani identification cards.
Muhammad Pahlawan is charged with attempting to smuggle advanced missile components, including a warhead he is accused of knowing would be used by the Houthi rebels against commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters. He is also charged with providing false information to U.S. Coast Guard officers during the boarding of the vessel.
Pahlawan’s codefendants — Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad — were also charged with providing false information.
Attorneys for the men have declined to comment.
Another 10 crew members are being detained under the federal material witness law. It allows courts to issue warrants for the arrest and detention of a person if their testimony is “material in a criminal proceeding,” and if it “may become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena.”
The FBI affidavit states that crew members had been in contact multiple times by satellite phone with a member of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Don't Miss Cameron Diaz's Return to the Big Screen Alongside Jamie Foxx in Back in Action Trailer
- Department of Energy Program Aims to Bump Solar Costs Even Lower
- Ashlee Simpson Shares the Secret to Her and Evan Ross' Decade-Long Romance
- Financial Industry Faces Daunting Transformation for Climate Deal to Succeed
- Katherine Schwarzenegger Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Pratt
- Trump Takes Aim at Obama-Era Rules on Methane Leaks and Gas Flaring
- Locust Swarms, Some 3 Times the Size of New York City, Are Eating Their Way Across Two Continents
- Government Think Tank Pushes Canada to Think Beyond Its Oil Dependence
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes
Ranking
- Judge recuses himself in Arizona fake elector case after urging response to attacks on Kamala Harris
- FDA warns stores to stop selling Elf Bar, the top disposable e-cigarette in the U.S.
- Defense arguments are set to open in a landmark climate case brought by Montana youth
- In Corporate March to Clean Energy, Utilities Not Required
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- Ohio man accused of killing his 3 sons indicted, could face death penalty
- Why do some people get rashes in space? There's a clue in astronaut blood
- Massachusetts’ Ambitious Clean Energy Bill Jolts Offshore Wind Prospects
Recommendation
-
Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys
-
Enbridge Fined for Failing to Fully Inspect Pipelines After Kalamazoo Oil Spill
-
How Pruitt’s EPA Is Delaying, Weakening and Repealing Clean Air Rules
-
Massachusetts’ Ambitious Clean Energy Bill Jolts Offshore Wind Prospects
-
Glen Powell Addresses Rumor He’ll Replace Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible Franchise
-
In Cities v. Fossil Fuels, Exxon’s Allies Want the Accusers Investigated
-
Get 2 Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gels for Less Than the Price of 1
-
Huntington's spreads like 'fire in the brain.' Scientists say they've found the spark