Feds: Accused Iran-backed terrorist plotted UK air base attack from NYC prison

A federal judge last week was skeptical that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi was using “coded” phone calls from jail to coordinate terror plots.MANHATTAN (CN) — Federal prosecutors claim on Tuesday the commander of an Iranian terrorist proxy group managed to plot a failed attack on a United Kingdom Air Force base — despite being locked up for months in solitary confinement at a Brooklyn prison.The government filed a superseding indictment against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian and Iraqi national accused of using coded messages in phone calls with his family to coordinate the thwarted September plot against the British Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, United Kingdom — which housed U.S. military aircraft and personnel at the time.Al-Saadi was previously charged with coordinating nearly 20 terror attacks and attempted terror attacks throughout Europe and the United States on behalf of the Kata’ib Hizballah, a militia group tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. But federal prosecutors say his stint behind bars in the Metropolitan Detention Center hasn’t halted his involvement.The government says al-Saadi used his family to pass messages along to two other men newly charged in Tuesday’s indictment: Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.Prosecutors claim that, during one call between al-Saadi and his family members, he told them that he owed Mohajeri money and directed them to pass along messages to him about “work,” “a term al-Saadi regularly used to describe terrorist activity.”“On one of those calls, on or about July 30, 2026, al-Saadi also asked his sister, ‘What are they doing about all our old work?’ and asked her whether it had been cancelled or just put on pause,” prosecutors claim. “Al-Saadi’s sister responded that ‘it isn’t cancelled.’”In September, al-Saadi supposedly instructed his family by phone to pay al-Hassani money “so we can do it.”The government claims this was in reference to the U.K. air base attack, which was carried out three days after the phone call and was thwarted when the would-be attackers’ vans — which prosecutors suspect were being used as improvised explosives — encountered an unexpected security checkpoint.“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 in a statement. “The defendants listed in the indictment allegedly supported two foreign terrorist organizations, and Al-Saadi allegedly coordinated with his co-defendants in the days leading up to the plot. This Department of Justice will continue dismantling terrorist networks and protecting the American people from terrorist organizations.”According to the indictment, the three men were also involved in carrying out a March attack involving explosives against the Bank of New York Mellon building in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They also attempted to attack the Bank of America in Paris, France, as well as several Jewish institutions in the United States.Prosecutors say the acts of terror were coordinated as revenge for U.S. intervention in the region, including the military strike that killed former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Al-Saadi is also accused of publishing calls for violence on social media. Prosecutors say he urged others to “[k]ill everyone who supports America and Israel” and directed that “every individual or group capable of killing an American or Zionist target, whether civilian or military, in any country in the world, should begin by targeting them.”Al-Saadi’s lawyer, public defender Andrew Dalack, declined to comment on his client’s new indictment. But the parties have sparred over al-Saadi’s family phone calls in recent court filings.The defense in October complained that the government was relying on “speculation and unsupported inference” that al-Saadi was using coded language in those calls to justify his extreme confinement conditions.A federal judge agreed. Just last week, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon demanded that federal prosecutors show her more evidence as they continue to limit al-Saadi’s communications and hold him in solitary confinement.“The government’s argument about defendant’s using coded language during his video calls with family members to communicate with his … confederates is vague and does not appear to be linked to discrete criminal planning or conduct,” the Bill Clinton appointee ruled. “The court needs to hear more.”According to al-Saadi’s lawyers, the extended time in solitary confinement has also damaged their own relationship with him. McMahon set a conference for Nov. 19 to discuss whether al-Saadi should represent himself.Al-Saadi, Mohajeri and Al-Hassani each face a maximum sentence of life in prison on charges including conspiracy to bomb a public place and attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads