Iranians Accused of Smuggling Missile Components Intended for Houthi Rebels

The Justice Department has charged two Iranians with smuggling missile parts that were seized in January in the Arabian Sea. The search resulted in charges for four others and the deaths of two Navy SEALs.

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Iranian missiles are exhibited in Tehran, Iran.

The Justice Department has charged two Iranians with smuggling missile components bound for Houthi rebels that were seized in the Arabian Sea in January during a nighttime search that resulted in the deaths of two Navy SEALs, according to a court document unsealed on Wednesday.

The two men, brothers who work for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, are accused of conspiring to provide material support to Iran’s program for weapons of mass destruction and remain at large.

A third man, a Pakistani citizen who was captain on the vessel, was also charged with conspiring to provide weapons support. He was taken into custody with three other men who were captured when U.S. personnel boarded the ship, known as a dhow, which was packed with weapons. Those four men were charged earlier this year with related crimes in a federal court in Virginia.

The charges against the brothers, Shahab and Yunus Mir’kazei, come as tensions escalate between the United States and Iran, which has vowed revenge for the assassination of a senior Hamas leader near Tehran last month. The Iran-allied Houthis, who might take part in any retaliation, have been designated a terrorist group by the State Department.

ImageA photo released by the U.S. military’s Central Command shows what is described as Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen’s Houthi seized off a vessel in the Arabian Sea.Credit…U.S. Central Command/U.S. Central Command, via Associated Press

The charges stem from the interdiction of a suspicious boat, with 14 crew members aboard, off the coast of Somalia by the Lewis B. Puller under the cover of darkness.

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