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Iranian Brothers Charged in Alleged Smuggling Operation that Led to Deaths of 2 Navy Seals

FILE - This undated image released by the US military's Central Command shows what it is described as the vessel in the Arabian Sea that carried Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen's Houthi. (US Central Command via AP, File)
FILE - This undated image released by the US military's Central Command shows what it is described as the vessel in the Arabian Sea that carried Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen's Houthi. (US Central Command via AP, File)
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Iranian Brothers Charged in Alleged Smuggling Operation that Led to Deaths of 2 Navy Seals

FILE - This undated image released by the US military's Central Command shows what it is described as the vessel in the Arabian Sea that carried Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen's Houthi. (US Central Command via AP, File)
FILE - This undated image released by the US military's Central Command shows what it is described as the vessel in the Arabian Sea that carried Iranian-made missile components bound for Yemen's Houthi. (US Central Command via AP, File)

Two men linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are now facing terrorism charges in the US in connection with the interception of a vessel in the Arabian Sea that resulted in the deaths of two Navy SEALs earlier this year.
The new indictment announced Thursday by federal prosecutors in Richmond, Virginia, charges two Iranian brothers, Shahab Mir’kazei and Yunus Mir’kazei, as well as a Pakistani boat captain, Muhammad Pahlawan, with providing material support to Iran’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program, among other charges, The Associated Press reported.
The brothers are at large. Pahlawan and three of his crew members have been in custody since the Navy SEAL team intercepted their small vessel, described as a dhow, in January.
While boarding the dhow, US officials say Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers fell overboard as high waves created a gap between the two boats.
As Chambers fell, Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram jumped in to try to save him, according to US officials familiar with what happened.
Both Chambers and Ingram were declared dead after an 11-day search failed to find either man.
The search of the dhow turned up a variety of Iranian-made weaponry, including cruise and ballistic missile components, according to court documents.
US officials say the dhow was part of an effort to supply weapons to Houthi militants in Yemen, and that Houthis have stepped up attacks on merchant ships and US military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Houthis have been designated as a terrorist group by the State Department since February, according to the indictment. The Revolutionary Guard Corps has been designated a terrorist group by the State Department since 2019.
The new indictment contains additional details linking the dhow to Iran. It alleges the two brothers who work for the Revolutionary Guard Corps paid Pahlawan 1.7 billion rials — about $40,000 in US dollars — to carry out multiple smuggling operations from Iran to the Somali coast near Yemen.
The federal public defender's office, which was appointed to represent Pahlawan, declined comment Thursday. The two Iranians, who are not in custody, do not have attorneys listed. Arrest warrants for both brothers were issued Wednesday.

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Britain is on Alert for Further Unrest Even after Anti-Racism Campaigners Faced Down the Far Right

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a press conference, following clashes after the Southport stabbing, at 10 Downing street in central London, Britain, August 1, 2024. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a press conference, following clashes after the Southport stabbing, at 10 Downing street in central London, Britain, August 1, 2024. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Britain is on Alert for Further Unrest Even after Anti-Racism Campaigners Faced Down the Far Right

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a press conference, following clashes after the Southport stabbing, at 10 Downing street in central London, Britain, August 1, 2024. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a press conference, following clashes after the Southport stabbing, at 10 Downing street in central London, Britain, August 1, 2024. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

British authorities said Thursday they were preparing for the possibility of further unrest, even as they applauded the efforts of anti-racism campaigners and police officers who largely stifled a threatened wave of far-right demonstrations overnight.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer sounded the note of caution after a week of anti-immigrant violence that has scarred communities from Northern Ireland to the south coast of England. Starmer spoke to reporters at a mosque in Solihull, near Birmingham, where demonstrators shut down a shopping center on Sunda, The Associated Press said.
“It’s important that we don’t let up here,” Starmer said.
At an emergency meeting with law enforcement officers at his office, Starmer said on Thursday evening that police need to remain on “high alert,” Britain’s Press Association reported. He credited strategic police staffing and swift justice for rioters in the courts for creating a deterrent that kept trouble at a minimum the night before.
Police across the United Kingdom had braced for widespread disorder on Wednesday, after far-right activists circulated a list of more than 100 sites they planned to target, including the offices of immigration lawyers and others offering services to migrants.
But those demonstrations failed to materialize as police and counter-protesters filled the streets.
Carrying signs saying “Refugees Welcome” and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets,” people turned out in force to protect asylum service centers and the offices of immigration attorneys.
The government also declared a national critical incident, putting 6,000 specially trained police on standby to respond to any disorder. Police said that protests and counter-protests were largely peaceful, though a small number of arrests were made.
“The show of force from the police and, frankly, the show of unity from communities together defeated the challenges that we faced,” said Commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police Service. “It went off very peacefully last night, and the fears of extreme right disorder were abated.”
But tensions remain high after right-wing agitators fueled the violence by circulating misinformation about the identity of the suspect in a knife attack that killed three young girls in the English seaside town of Southport last week. The last child hospitalized in the July 29 stabbing has been released, police said Thursday.
Nearly 500 people have been arrested around the country after anti-immigrant mobs clashed with police, attacked mosques and overran two hotels housing asylum-seekers. Among them was a man in his 50s, arrested on suspicion of “encouraging murder.” The arrest came after a local Labor councilor allegedly called for far-right protesters’ throats to be “cut.''
The Labor Party suspended Ricky Jones, who is alleged to have made the remark at a London demonstration Wednesday.
The government has pledged to track down and prosecute those responsible for the disorder, including people who incite violence online.
In an effort to dissuade people from taking part in future unrest by showing that rioters will face swift justice, TV cameras were allowed into Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday as Judge Andrew Menary sentenced two men to 32 months in prison.
During the hearing, prosecutors played video of rioters pelting police with bricks and setting garbage cans on fire. One of the suspects was in the middle of a group that ripped the bumper off a police vehicle and threw it at officers as onlookers cheered.
“It seems to me there were hundreds of people observing, as if this was some sort of Tuesday night entertainment,” Menary said. “All of them should be frankly ashamed of themselves.”
Northern Ireland’s regional legislative assembly convened Thursday to respond to the unrest. Minister for Justice Naomi Long said the violence and racist attacks in recent days were “not reflective” of the people of Northern Ireland.
The government is also considering imposing sanctions other than jail time, including banning rioters from soccer matches. Home Office minister Diana Johnson told LBC Radio that there should be consequences for those implicated in disorder.
“I think all options are being looked at, to be honest, and I am pretty clear that most football clubs do not want to be seen to have football hooligans and people carrying out criminal acts on the streets of the local communities in their stands on a Saturday,″ she said.