U.S. authorities on Tuesday accused three men of working as Iran-supported operatives to plan nearly 20 attacks against Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, along with an assault on a British military base used by the U.S. Air Force. The allegations were detailed in a superseding indictment unsealed in federal court in New York City.
The defendants are Mohammad Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national, and Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. Al-Saadi, who was arrested in the spring, is the only one in custody. Prosecutors allege that he continued helping coordinate the plot against RAF Fairford while imprisoned in the United States, communicating with his co-defendants through relatives in Iraq.
The indictment provides further details about an incident at the base in western England, where American bombers and troops had been stationed. Five men were detained after midnight on Sept. 27 on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offenses after three suspicious vans were seen heading toward the installation. The episode had remained largely unexplained for more than a month.
According to the indictment, Al-Hassani paid associates to conduct surveillance of RAF Fairford in August. The following month, he allegedly paid several people to obtain vans and barrels of fuel, investigate buying chemical accelerants, including large amounts of potassium chloride, and purchase metal objects that could serve as explosive shrapnel. Authorities say the group also produced custom decals to make the vans appear to belong to a fuel company and a swimming pool supply business.
Prosecutors allege that Al-Hassani then instructed the people involved to take the fuel to the base, where British law enforcement detained the men. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said Al-Saadi remained involved in coordination with his co-defendants during the days before the attempted September attack. The indictment says he used phone and video calls with family members in Iraq, who allegedly relayed coded messages to Al-Hassani and Mohajeri.
Investigators cited a July conversation in which Al-Saadi asked his sister about their previous work, language they interpreted as referring to terrorist activity. She indicated that it had not been canceled. Prosecutors say the three defendants sought to use contacts in the United Kingdom to carry out attacks for an Iran-aligned terrorist network that included Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata’ib Hizballah.
Both organizations are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. In June, Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty to charges alleging that he planned at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s war with Iran.
