Indictment details plot for 18 attacks and strike on UK base
A superseding indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court adds charges against three men accused of coordinating an Iran-backed campaign against Jewish communities and a Royal Air Force base.
By John Ferrari ·
Federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment in Manhattan on Tuesday that details a conspiracy to carry out nearly 20 terrorist attacks across Europe and the United States. The charges target three men accused of acting as operatives for Iran-aligned groups, including a planned assault on a British airbase hosting U.S. forces.
The defendants are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. Only al-Saadi is currently in custody. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald stated that al-Saadi, who was arrested in the spring, continued to coordinate with his co-defendants in the days before a September incident at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom.
The indictment provides new details about the events of September 27, when five men were detained after midnight following the discovery of three suspicious vans near the base in western England. A sixth suspect was arrested days later, and all six were subsequently released on bail. British authorities linked the incident to Tehran, prompting the U.S. to withdraw its bombers from the base and redeploy them to their home bases in the United States.
According to court documents, al-Saadi used coded language while jailed to direct money to contacts who could execute attacks. Prosecutors alleged the three men conspired to use a network in the UK to commit attacks on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata’ib Hizballah. Both groups are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, and prosecutors identified al-Saadi as a commander in Kata’ib Hizballah.
Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty in June to charges that he plotted at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. He has described himself as a prisoner of war and has been held without bail since his arrest. His attorneys did not respond to requests for comment on the new charges.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the United States will prosecute anyone who plans a terrorist plot against a military base housing American servicemembers. U.S. Attorney McDonald noted that the threat from Iran and its affiliated groups is very real, targeting both Jewish communities and allied military infrastructure.
RAF Fairford, located 100 miles west of London, has hosted American bombers during decades of Middle East conflicts. The new indictment outlines the specific roles of the three defendants in coordinating this campaign of terror.
