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An Iranian operative, Mohammad Dawood Al-Saadi, is accused of orchestrating an attack on a UK airbase used by the U.S. from a jail in New York. According to federal prosecutors, Al-Saadi allegedly used coded messages during phone calls to his family to direct the plot. He coordinated with operatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the military in Iran.
Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen, was arrested in Turkey in May and transferred to the U.S. to face charges related to nearly 20 other terrorist attacks in Europe. Despite being in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, he allegedly oversaw the plot against U.S. forces at Royal Air Force Base Fairford, giving final approval. The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, details how Al-Saadi used phone calls with his mother and sister to pass messages to other suspects, as reported by the New York Post.
The plot involved acquiring vans, barrels of fuel, and chemical accelerants, with accomplices conducting video surveillance of the base. Three vehicles were driven to RAF Fairford on September 26, but were seized by British authorities the following day. The ringleaders are associated with the Iraqi militia group Kata'ib Hizballah, under the command of Iran’s IRGC.
British police arrested seven men in connection with the plot, but they were released on bail. President Trump criticized British officials for this decision and subsequently, the U.S. military relocated a dozen B-1B Lancer bombers to other airports to mitigate risk.
The indictment also alleges that Al-Saadi and his co-defendants, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad al-Hassani, plotted attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the U.S. ABC News reports that Al-Saadi has been held without bail since his arrest and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.