Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged three men with terrorism offenses tied to nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks in Europe and the United States, including a September plot targeting RAF Fairford, a British air base that housed American forces, according to a Justice Department announcement on Tuesday.
The eight-count superseding indictment names Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors allege the three acted in support of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations, according to the department’s release.
New from DOJ:
“An eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed today 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 offenses for their… pic.twitter.com/WFIxA2zwfE
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) November 10, 2026
“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the Justice Department’s statement.
Coded messages from a New York jail
Al-Saadi was already in federal custody in New York awaiting trial on earlier terrorism charges filed in May, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors allege he used phone calls with family members in Iraq to pass coded messages to Mohajeri and al-Hassani in the days before the Fairford plot, the department said.
On or about Sept. 24, al-Saadi allegedly asked his family about al-Hassani and instructed them to send al-Hassani money for the operation, according to the indictment as described by the Justice Department. The Guardian reported that prosecutors allege al-Saadi plotted while in custody by using coded messages in calls to his family.
Vans, fuel and a roadblock
According to the Justice Department, al-Hassani paid an associate in August to conduct surveillance of the base’s perimeter, then tasked others in September with buying vans and barrels of fuel, researching chemical accelerants and purchasing metal objects that could serve as shrapnel. Prosecutors allege the vans were fitted with custom decals to look like they belonged to a fuel delivery business and a pool supply business, the department said.
On Sept. 26, al-Hassani allegedly directed drivers to take three vans toward RAF Fairford, but at least two encountered a security roadblock and were turned away, according to the Justice Department. British authorities recovered the three vans and arrested their occupants early on Sept. 27, the department said. The BBC reported that a major incident was declared near the base that day after suspicious vans were reported.
Attacks across Europe
The Justice Department alleges the defendants were involved in planning 18 attacks in Europe this spring that were claimed by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, which prosecutors describe as a front for Kata’ib Hizballah. Seven of those attacks took place in the United Kingdom and included arsons, explosives and a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one of them a dual U.S.-British citizen, according to the department.
Prosecutors also allege al-Saadi tried to carry out attacks in the United States this spring, including one targeting a synagogue in Manhattan, the Justice Department said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in the department’s release that the case “shows the determination of Iran to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S.” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald of the Southern District of New York said in the same release that the threat from Iran and Iran-backed groups “is not hypothetical.”
The most serious counts, including conspiring to bomb a place of public use, carry a maximum of life in prison, according to the Justice Department. The department noted that an indictment is merely an allegation and that all three defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. AFP and The Guardian also reported on the charges.
Sources
Sources cited
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rryrryk59zo
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/10/prosecutors-charge-iranian-operative-uk-air-force-attack
- https://www.afp.com/en/us-charges-three-iranian-operatives-over-uk-airbase-plot
Sources
- Original post: Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) on X, Nov 10, 2026
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