Iran-backed trio charged in U.S. over plots targeting Jewish sites and U.K. airbase

Federal prosecutors in New York have charged three men accused of operating on behalf of Iranian-backed militant groups to orchestrate nearly twenty planned attacks across the United States and Europe, including an aborted assault on a British military installation hosting American troops.

A superseding indictment unsealed in federal court names Mohammad Al-Saadi, an Iranian-Iraqi dual citizen; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. Of the three, only Al-Saadi is presently in custody, having been detained by American authorities earlier this year.

Investigators allege the defendants acted in coordination with organizations affiliated with Tehran, including Kataib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both of which are designated as foreign terrorist entities by the United States. The planned targets included Jewish communities in the U.S. and Europe, alongside an intended strike on RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in western England where American airmen and bombers have been deployed.

According to prosecutors, Al-Saadi continued participating in the planning of the British air base assault while incarcerated in a U.S. detention facility. He reportedly relied on phone and video communications with relatives in Iraq to relay coded instructions to his co-defendants. In one July conversation intercepted by investigators, Al-Saadi inquired about the status of their previous activities, to which his sister confirmed the efforts remained active.

The court filing details extensive preparations for the assault on RAF Fairford. In August, Al-Hassani allegedly financed reconnaissance of the military site. By the following month, he reportedly arranged funding for associates to acquire multiple vans, fuel drums, metal fragments for shrapnel, and chemical compounds such as potassium chloride. To evade suspicion, the conspirators outfitted the transport vehicles with custom logos disguised as commercial branding for fuel delivery and pool maintenance services.

The operation was disrupted on September 27 when British police intercepted three suspicious vans heading toward the base shortly after midnight, leading to the arrest of five men on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offenses. Prosecutors allege Al-Hassani had directed those drivers to transport the fuel to the facility just before law enforcement intervened.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald noted that the case illustrates an ongoing and tangible threat posed by Iranian-backed networks against the United States and its allies. Al-Saadi, who entered a not guilty plea over the summer to earlier charges linked to eighteen planned strikes across Europe, remains in federal custody as legal proceedings move forward.