DOJ Charges Three Iran-Backed Operatives in Plots Targeting UK Airbase and Jewish Communities

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday announced charges against three alleged Iran-backed operatives in connection with a campaign of attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States, including a September plot against RAF Fairford, a British base used by U.S. forces.

The superseding eight-count indictment names Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national already jailed in New York; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. Only al-Saadi is in U.S. custody. The charges include conspiracy to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations, conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, and financing of terrorism.

According to the indictment, the men worked with the IRGC and the Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah. Of roughly 18 attacks or attempts in spring 2026 claimed by a front group, seven occurred in the United Kingdom and involved arsons, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one a dual U.S.-British citizen. Other alleged targets included Jewish institutions in Europe and the United States.

The RAF Fairford plot is central to the new charges. In September, British police responded to suspicious activity involving vans near the base, which had hosted U.S. bombers used in operations against Iran. Prosecutors say al-Hassani and Mohajeri, operating from Iran, paid associates in Britain to surveil the base, acquire vans, fuel barrels, and metallic objects for shrapnel. Al-Saadi, despite being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, allegedly passed coded messages through relatives to approve and coordinate the operation.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald stated that the defendants “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.” After the September incident, the United States relocated bombers from the base.

The indictment expands earlier charges against al-Saadi from May. Mohajeri and al-Hassani remain at large. The case highlights continued Iranian proxy activity against U.S. and allied interests even after major military operations against Iran.