US Charges Three Iran-Backed Operatives Over RAF Fairford Plot and Nearly 20 Attacks

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced an eight-count superseding indictment in the Southern District of New York charging three men with terrorism-related offenses in support of Kata'ib Hizballah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both US-designated foreign terrorist organizations. Prosecutors allege involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempts across Europe and the United States, including a September 2026 plot against RAF Fairford in Britain, where US forces were stationed.

The defendants are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, Mohsen Mohajeri, 48, of Iran, and Mohammed Ali Al-Hassani, 35, of Iraq. The case is assigned to US District Judge Colleen McMahon. The charges are allegations. The Justice Department states the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Fairford plot, as alleged

Prosecutors allege that Al-Hassani paid an individual around August 22, 2026 to film the perimeter of RAF Fairford as surveillance before the plot. In September 2026, he allegedly tasked and paid people to get vans and barrels of fuel, research chemical accelerants including large quantities of potassium chloride, buy metallic objects usable as shrapnel, and fit the vans with decals imitating a fuel delivery business and a swimming pool supply business.

On September 26, 2026, three vans, some later found to contain barrels of fuel, were driven toward RAF Fairford, and at least two hit a security roadblock, prosecutors say. Early on September 27, British officers recovered the vans and arrested their occupants. The New York Post reported that British police arrested and later bailed seven men after the security scare.

Al-Saadi was in a New York prison awaiting trial at the time. Prosecutors allege he passed coded messages to Mohajeri and Al-Hassani through family phone calls in Iraq before the plot, including one on September 24, 2026 in which he allegedly told his family to give Al-Hassani money "so we can do it."

Earlier charges and attacks in Europe

Al-Saadi was first charged in the same court around May 28, 2026, over about 18 attacks in Europe and an attempt to bomb a New York synagogue in March and April 2026. Arrested abroad on May 1, 2026, he has been in US federal custody since his transfer.

Prosecutors say the European attacks were carried out in the name of a purportedly new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, which they describe as a front for Kata'ib Hizballah and other designated groups. Of about 18 attacks the group claimed in spring 2026, about seven took place in the United Kingdom, the most in any European country. Prosecutors list arsons, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, one a dual US and British citizen. The New York Post reported the attacks also included an attempt to burn down the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam.

"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. US Attorney Jamie McDonald said the defendants, as alleged, "helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organizations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members."

On count five, attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, which names Al-Saadi only, and on count six, conspiring to bomb a place of public use, the maximum penalty is life in prison.