DOJ Charges Three Iran-Backed Operatives Over Nearly 20 Terror Attacks and Plot Against U.S. Forces at RAF Fairford
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 10 that an eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani with terrorism offenses for acting on behalf of Kata'ib Hizballah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two designated foreign terrorist organizations. The three are alleged to have been involved in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States, including a September 2026 plot against Royal Air Force Base Fairford in the United Kingdom, which at the time housed U.S. military aircraft and personnel.
According to the indictment, al-Hassani, who was in Iran, directed and paid associates in the United Kingdom to prepare the Fairford plot: on August 22 he paid an individual to conduct pre-operational surveillance of the base perimeter, and in September he had others procure vans and barrels of fuel, research purchases of chemical accelerants including large quantities of potassium chloride and metallic objects usable as shrapnel, and commission custom decals making the vans appear to belong to a fuel delivery business and a swimming pool supply business. On September 26, three vans, some containing barrels of fuel, were driven toward the base; at least two encountered a security roadblock. In the early morning hours of September 27, British authorities recovered the three white vans and arrested their occupants.
Al-Saadi, a longtime operative of the IRGC and Kata'ib Hizballah, was charged in May over involvement in about 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and an attempt to bomb a synagogue in New York; he was arrested abroad on May 1 and transferred to U.S. custody, and is jailed in the Southern District of New York awaiting trial. The indictment alleges he coordinated from prison through coded messages passed in phone calls with family members in Iraq — in June and July calls he directed family to relay messages about "work" to Mohajeri, and on September 24, after asking about al-Hassani, he allegedly told his family to "give him money so we can do it," three days before the Fairford plot was set in motion.
The European attacks were claimed in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), which the Justice Department says is a front for Kata'ib Hizballah and other groups. Of the 18 attacks HAYI claimed in Europe in the spring of 2026, seven took place in the United Kingdom and involved arsons, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, one of them a dual U.S.-British citizen. On April 18, al-Hassani allegedly directed an individual over a video call to throw an improvised explosive device at a London synagogue, telling him to "light it up like a Christmas tree."
"Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government," said Attorney General Todd Blanche. FBI Director Kash Patel said the indictment shows Iran's determination to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S., and that the FBI has disrupted more than 1,300 terrorists over the past 21 months, with nearly 7,000 foreign terrorist organization-related arrests. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said the defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror targeting Jewish communities in Europe and the United States and the British base housing American service members.
Al-Saadi, 32, is a citizen of Iraq and Iran; Mohajeri, 48, is a citizen of Iran; and al-Hassani, 35, is a citizen of Iraq. The charges include conspiring to provide material support to Kata'ib Hizballah and to the IRGC (20 years maximum each), conspiring to provide and providing material support for acts of terrorism (15 years), conspiring to bomb a place of public use (life), and financing terrorism (20 years); al-Saadi also faces attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries (life) and attempted destruction of property by fire or explosive (five to 20 years). The case was investigated by the FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and other agencies. The Justice Department noted that a superseding indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的联邦调查局（FBI）总部大楼（GSM 固定图库）。 / Photo: FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. (GSM asset library).
