Federal prosecutors charged three Iran-backed operatives in New York on Tuesday with orchestrating a global campaign of terror, including a September 2026 terrorist plot targeting a British air base used by American forces.
Federal Court Indictment Filed in New York
An eight-count superseding indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court named Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani. Assistant U.S. Attorneys are prosecuting the case for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors said a superseding indictment is merely an allegation. James Donnelly and Paul Casey of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section provided assistance.
Following an investigation by FBI New York's Joint Terrorism Task Force, @FBIWFO, and @SDNYnews, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, and Mohammed Ali Al-Hassani, were charged with terrorism-related offenses for their activities in support of Kata’ib Hizballah… pic.twitter.com/PcB1o5YrQv
Al-Saadi is a dual Iranian-Iraqi national. Mohajeri is an Iranian national. Al-Hassani is an Iraqi national. The defendants face charges for activities supporting Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.
Authorities accused the trio of involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya claimed responsibility for 18 terrorist attacks in Europe in the spring of 2026. Seven took place in the United Kingdom, according to the Department of Justice.
The incidents involved arsons, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, including a dual U.S.-British citizen. Before these developments, al-Saadi was a dual citizen of Iraq and Iran who had allegedly worked closely with Qasem Soleimani, the longtime commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds force, years prior to his arrest.
Prison Calls Directing RAF Fairford Plot
Al-Saadi allegedly coordinated the September operation against Royal Air Force Base Fairford in western England from inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. He had been held in solitary confinement there since his May arrest in Turkey. Prosecutors said he used coded messages in phone and video calls to his mother and sister in Iraq to pass instructions to associates.
The Justice Department moved last month to restrict al-Saadi’s phone calls with family to once per month because of the coded language he had used. Judge Colleen McMahon urged the government to supply additional details regarding those conversations. During a meeting at the jail, al-Saadi’s federal defender, Andrew Dalack, said his client was placed in an elaborate and highly restrictive shackling system.
Dalack declined to comment on the matter. His legal team filed a court statement describing how al-Saadi was restrained by leg irons and front handcuffs connected to a chain wrapped around his stomach, preventing him from moving his arms or hands.
Court documents show al-Saadi used the word “work” as code for terrorist activity. In a July conversation, he asked his sister whether their “old work” had been cancelled or put on pause. She assured him “it isn’t cancelled.” Three days following that call, al-Hassani orchestrated the RAF Fairford plot.
Al-Hassani directed the initial steps of the plot by arranging surveillance at RAF Fairford and paying individuals to procure vans, fuel barrels, chemical accelerants like potassium chloride, and metal shrapnel. British authorities detained five men shortly after midnight on September 27 after three suspicious vans traveled toward the base, with four other suspects who were subsequently released on bail by British authorities.
Official Responses from U.S. and British Officials
Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government.
Department of Justice
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said that the defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror targeting Jewish communities in Europe and the United States alongside the British military base.
This eight-count indictment shows the determination of Iran to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S., including one plot that was recently prevented at RAF Fairfield, a British Royal Air Force Base where American forces were stationed.
Department of Justice
Following the security incidents, the U.S. military withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford and moved aircraft from RAF Mildenhall. FBI leadership said the agency will continue using all resources to detect and stop terrorist threats.
Seven men arrested in the United Kingdom were initially released on bail. Over the preceding 21 months they had disrupted more than 1,300 terrorists and arrested nearly 7,000 people related to foreign terrorist organizations, representing an increase of 1,057%.
