Crimeupdated 14m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 1 November 2023U.S. Charges Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani Over RAF Fairford Plot
10 Western Mainstream5 Other2 Asian4 Other source typesPhoto: Senior Airman Ryan Hayman / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Jailed Iranian operative Mohammad Dawood Al-Saadi directed RAF Fairford plot from a New York jail. Three Iran-backed operatives charged over planned attacks on U.S., Europe and RAF Fairford.
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Three charged over plots
The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani over an alleged campaign of nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States, including a plot targeting RAF Fairford in England.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said the defendants helped orchestrate a "campaign of terror" on behalf of terrorist organizations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members.
The indictment unsealed Tuesday names al-Saadi as a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, Mohajeri as an Iranian national, and al-Hassani as an Iraqi national, and it alleges that al-Saadi coordinated with co-defendants from jail using coded messages.
The BBC said the DOJ accused the trio of planning attacks in Europe under the pseudonym Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, and it added that the DOJ statement described "arsons, explosives" and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men.
The BBC also reported that the DOJ said seven of the 18 terrorist attacks in the spring of 2026 for which HAYI claimed responsibility in Europe took place in the UK.
Fairford incident and coded links
Prosecutors said the charges centered on RAF Fairford in southwest England, where US forces and bombers had been stationed, and where police were called in September after a local farmer reported seeing a group of men with several white vans engaged in "suspicious" activity. The indictment described al-Hassani, a 35-year-old Iraqi national, directing others to drive to the base in vans carrying barrels of fuel, and it alleged that he had earlier paid the group to prepare by acquiring vans and barrels of fuel and researching chemical accelerants. The BBC said the DOJ statement accused the trio of communicating with contacts in the UK from detention, with one man communicating from a prison in New York and the other two accused of doing the same from Iran.
Al-Saadi was already in jail in New York, and the BBC reported that the DOJ said he was awaiting trial on previous charges while the indictment alleged he sent coded messages to assist in future acts of violence. The BBC also reported that Iran’s embassy in London said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" what it called "unfounded and malicious speculations" linking Iran to the incident.
Bail, withdrawals, and next steps
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said only al-Saadi was in custody, while Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors did not disclose the whereabouts of Mohajeri and al-Hassani.
ABC News & Headlines reported that five men were detained after midnight on September 27 on suspected explosives and terrorism offences after three suspicious vans were spotted traveling toward the base, and it added that a sixth suspect was arrested several days later and that all the men were released on bail.
The BBC said the DOJ described the case as showing "the determination of Iran to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the US," and it quoted FBI Director Kash Patel saying one of the three "allegedly sent coded messages to assist in future acts of violence" from detention.
The indictment and related reporting also described how the episode prompted the U.S. to withdraw its B-1 bombers from Fairford, and Al Jazeera reported that days after the incident the US withdrew all of its B-1 bombers from Fairford.
The BBC said the DOJ statement described the Fairford plot as part of a broader pattern, adding that it accused the trio of planning attacks in Europe that included "arsons, explosives" and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, and it reported that a suspect is due to stand trial next year.