3 Iranian-backed men indicted in attempted plot on RAF Fairford

Federal prosecutors allege that an Iranian terrorist proxy group’s commander, alongside two other men, assisted in orchestrating the suspected terror plot on a United Kingdom military base from jail while awaiting trial on other pending terrorism charges. From jail in New York, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, allegedly coordinated with Mohammad Ali al-Hassani and Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iraqi and Iranian national, respectively, to organize the recent failed terror attack on RAF Fairford, according to a recent Department of Justice release. The three men allegedly conspired to commit nearly 20 terrorist attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the U.S. in the name of two Iran-aligned terrorist networks that are designated by the U.S. as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, per an eight-count indictment. “Even after one of their co-conspirators was arrested and placed in federal custody, the defendants allegedly continued coordinating terrorist activity through coded communications and a network of associates overseas,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said in the release. “The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical — it is very real.” The indictment says that most recently, al-Hassani, with terrorism-related offenses for their activities in support of Kataib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, allegedly managed the September plot on RAF Fairford, which housed U.S. military aircraft and personnel at the time in support of the war in Iran. In the Southern District of New York, al-Saadi was in jail awaiting trial on pending terrorism charges and tried to correspond with al-Hassani and Mohajeri by passing coded messages through third parties. Al-Hassani and Mohajeri were both in Iran at the time of the attempted RAF Fairford scheme, so they relied on a network of contacts in the U.K., per the statement. Al-Saadi was charged in May for collaborating with and working on behalf of the IRGC, other FTOs and Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia group that he is the commander of and that is backed by the IRGC. He was also charged for his participation in planning and promoting around 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and for attempting to bomb a synagogue in New York. The indictment alleges that al-Hassani and Mohajeri, an operative of the IRGC, worked with al-Saadi to facilitate and complete many of the European terrorist attacks. Al-Hassani used his contacts and criminal associates to carry out attacks in the U.K., prosecutors allege. Al-Saadi was arrested abroad in early May and transferred to U.S. custody for prosecution, staying in federal custody since his arrival in the U.S. For four months following his arrest, there were no additional attacks attributed to the three men. Then in August, prosecutors say that al-Hassani directed and paid associates in the U.K. to conduct “preparatory steps” for the RAF Fairford plot, such as surveillance of the base’s perimeter. The next month, he also paid several people to assist in the plot’s preparation, like procuring vans and barrels of fuel, researching chemical accelerants and purchasing items that could be used as explosive shrapnel. In late September, al-Hassani supposedly told individuals to drive three vans, some with barrels of fuel inside, to RAF Fairford, but at least two encountered a security roadblock and were not able to continue to the base. U.K. law enforcement authorities later recovered three white vans and arrested the individuals. While in jail, al-Saadi allegedly used phone calls with his family in Iraq to pass coded messages to al-Hassani and Mohajeri in the days leading up to the RAF Fairford plot. Three days before the attempted plot, al-Saadi spoke with his family on the phone and inquired about how al-Hassani was doing, telling them to give him money so “we can do it.” The eight-count indictment lists six charges for all three with a total maximum penalty of 90 years in prison or life in prison, and two charges reserved only for al-Saadi, with a maximum of 20 years or life in prison.