US charges 3 men with Iran links for plotting terror attacks, including assault on UK airbase

The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday accused three men, including one already jailed in the US, of being terror operatives with links to Iran and plotting nearly 20 attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and America as well as a planned assault on a British airbase used by the US Air Force.

The Department of Justice unsealed an eight-count superseding indictment in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, charging Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, with “terrorism-related offences”. DoJ said the three were undertaking activities that supported Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The US designates both Kata’ib Hezbollah and IRGC as “foreign terrorist organisations”.

‘Threat by Iran, Iran-backed terrorist groups not hypothetical’

“The defendants listed in the indictment allegedly supported two foreign terrorist organisations, and al-Saadi allegedly coordinated with his co-defendants in the days leading up to the attempted terrorist plot. This Department of Justice will continue dismantling terrorist networks and protecting the American people from terrorist organisations.”

US Attorney Jamie McDonald in New York said that al-Saadi, who was arrested in the spring, continued to coordinate with his co-defendants in the days leading up to the attempted September terrorist plot at a British Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, United Kingdom, where US bombers and troops had been stationed.

“These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organisations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members,” McDonald said.

“The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical — it is very real.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government.”

Indictment offers insight into RAF Fairford military base assault plot

The indictment offers fresh insight into an episode that has been shrouded in mystery for more than a month after five men were detained after midnight on Sept. 27 on suspected explosives and terrorism offences after three suspicious vans were spotted travelling toward the base in western England.

A sixth suspect, a British-Iranian dual national, was arrested several days later. All the men were released on bail. British authorities linked the incident to Tehran. The arrests prompted the US to withdraw its bombers stationed at RAF Fairford military base.

RAF Fairford, located 160 kilometres west of London, has been used by American bombers during decades of conflicts in the Middle East.

Al-Saadi used coded language in communications from jail

According to the indictment, al-Saadi used coded language in communications with relatives from jail to direct that money be passed along to others who could carry out attacks. It alleged that the three men conspired together to use a network of contacts in the UK to commit terrorist attacks on behalf of an Iran-aligned terrorist network.

In June, al-Saadi pleaded not guilty to charges that he plotted at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the US and Israel’s war with Iran and called himself a “prisoner of war.” US prosecutors say Al-Saadi was a Kata’ib Hizballah commander.