The investigation into a terror plot stopped by UK police in September on the outskirts of an airbase in England has resulted in more terrorism-related charges for two Iranians and one Iraqi citizen also linked to nearly 20 other terror attacks or attempted attacks in the United States and Europe, authorities said on Nov. 10.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an eight-count superseding indictment against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, 48, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, 35, an Iraqi national.
The men were charged with terrorism-related offenses for alleged activities in support of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.
The superseding indictment, which adds the latest charges to the original indictment filed against Al-Saadi in May, charges him as a longtime operative of Kata’ib Hizballah, the IRGC, and other terrorist organizations in connection with his alleged involvement in 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and an attempt to bomb a synagogue in New York.
Al-Saadi was in a New York jail awaiting trial on the pending charges when prosecutors say he attempted to coordinate a September attack at the Royal Air Base (RAF) Fairford with al-Hassani and Mohajeri by passing them coded messages through third parties.
Al-Hassani and Mohajeri directed the operation remotely from Iran.
RAF Fairford was hosting roughly a dozen U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers and their pilots engaged in the Iran conflict when local police stopped three suspicious vehicles headed toward the base on Sept. 27. Authorities arrested seven UK-based men and charged two of them a month later. Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, a British national, was charged with engaging in conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, which UK authorities believed to be Iran.
Nouman Essghir, 24, a dual British-Iranian citizen, was charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose harmful to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.
The American military aircraft were moved off the base after the suspected terrorist plot was foiled.
“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 of the new indictment.
Prosecutors say al-Saadi, Mohajeri, and Al-Hassani conspired to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States on behalf of an Iran-aligned terrorist network.
Several of the alleged terrorist attacks in March and April are described in the superseding indictment filed Nov. 10, including an attack against the Bank of New York Mellon building in Amsterdam, the Bank of America building in Paris, synagogues, ambulances, a Jewish charity organization, the Israeli Embassy, and two Jewish men in London.
The attacks were allegedly funded through Mohajeri’s Iranian bank account, according to court documents.
According to the documents, Mohajeri told al-Saadi he had worked with the head of the IRGC’s special operations division and allegedly went to Iraq from Iran to join him in March to plan the attacks.
In March of April, al-Saadi also tried to coordinate terrorist attacks in the United States, including targeting a synagogue in Manhattan.
Starting around May 1, al-Saadi was arrested abroad and transferred to the United States for prosecution.
On Aug. 22, authorities claim al-Hassani paid someone to take video around the airbase in England. He also allegedly paid several people to help him prepare for the alleged terrorist plot at the base by getting vans and barrels of fuel in September.
Investigators say co-conspirators allegedly researched buying chemical accelerants, including large quantities of potassium chloride, and metallic objects for use as explosive shrapnel, prosecutors said.
The alleged terrorists also allegedly made decals to put on the vans to disguise them as belonging to fuel delivery and swimming pool supply businesses.
The vans were stopped by local police in the early morning of Sept. 27 and the five occupants were arrested, after police were tipped off to the suspicious vehicles by a local resident.
Prosecutors allege al-Saadi was involved throughout the operation despite his detention by passing messages to his family during phone calls, and directing funding and operations for the attack.
“The allegations in today’s superseding indictment reflect the persistent threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations,” FBI Washington Assistant Director in Charge Darren Cox said.
All three are charged with two counts of conspiring to provide support to foreign terrorist organizations, the Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, one count of conspiring to provide material support for acts of terrorist, one count of providing material support for acts of terrorism, conspiring to bomb a place of public use, and financing terrorism.
Al-Saadi is also charged with attempted destruction of property by means of fire or explosive, and attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. His public defender did not return a request for comment about the charges.
If convicted on all eight charges, al-Saadi faces a maximum of two life sentences plus 95 years in prison. Al-Hassani and Mohajeri face a maximum of 90 years in prison and one life sentence, according to the DOJ.
Al-Hassani and Mohajeri remained at-large Nov. 10.
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