WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has indicted three Iranian-backed operatives on terrorism charges, accusing them of involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States, including a plot in September at a British air base where American forces were stationed.
An eight-count superseding indictment unsealed on Tuesday charges Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, with terrorism-related offenses for their activities in support of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations.
According to the Justice Department, the men conspired to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States on behalf of an Iran-aligned network. Most recently, prosecutors say, al-Hassani orchestrated a plot in approximately September 2026 at Royal Air Force Fairford in England, a base that housed American military aircraft and personnel at the time of the attempted attack.
Al-Hassani and Mohajeri were both in Iran at the time of the Fairford plot, prosecutors said, and relied on a network of contacts in the United Kingdom. Al-Saadi, who was imprisoned in New York awaiting trial on earlier terrorism charges, is accused of trying to coordinate with them from jail by passing coded messages through third parties.
Al-Saadi, 32, was first charged in May for his alleged role in planning and promoting about 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and for attempting to bomb a synagogue in New York. Prosecutors say the plots targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as the British military base. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in the Southern District of New York.
“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in announcing the charges. FBI Director Kash Patel said the indictment “shows the determination of Iran to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S., including one plot that was recently prevented at RAF Fairford.”
The charges are allegations, not findings of guilt, and the men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Prosecutors have not disclosed the whereabouts of Mohajeri and al-Hassani. British authorities have separately charged two men in Britain with national security offenses connected to the Fairford incident, according to news reports.
The indictment came on the same day that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was moved from his Washington home to a U.S. military base following death threats, according to reports by The New York Times and Fox News. Treasury officials confirmed the move. The location of the base was not disclosed, and the severity of the threats was not immediately clear.
Bessent has been one of the architects of President Donald Trump’s campaign of economic pressure on Iran, and American officials have concluded that Iranian plotting against current and former American officials has reached a more advanced stage, according to The New York Times. He is the latest senior Trump administration official to move onto a military base amid suspected threats.
The developments come against a backdrop of sharply heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. The two countries have been at war since late February, and the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, has seen a series of tanker incidents in recent days. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy has claimed that several tankers struck mines after using unauthorized routes; those claims have not been independently verified.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice; USA Today
