Iranian operative allegedly directed RAF Fairford bomb plot from New York prison cell
Mohammad al-Saadi, charged with terrorism offences in the US, is accused of orchestrating attacks including a failed plot against RAF Fairford while held without bail.
Iranian terror suspect allegedly ran attack network from federal detention cell
An Iranian operative charged with orchestrating more than 20 terrorist attacks across Europe and the United States has allegedly continued directing plots — including a failed scheme targeting RAF Fairford — from inside a federal detention centre in New York, thenationalnews.com reports.
US authorities believe Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al Saadi, 32, a dual citizen of Iran and Iraq, used coded language in monitored telephone calls and FaceTime sessions to push associates into carrying out further attacks, directing $1 million in money transfers and overseeing the release of propaganda videos. The accusations are set out in US Department of Justice documents.
Al Saadi was extradited to the United States from Turkey in May and charged in New York with six counts of terrorism-related offences. Prosecutors allege he operated as a commander within Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia group, and as an operative of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — both of which have been designated as terrorist organisations and placed under US sanctions.
He is also alleged to have led Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamia, known as Ashab Al Yamin, a group blamed for a series of fire-bombings at Jewish locations in London and synagogues across Europe. US targets identified by prosecutors included a synagogue in New York City and two Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.
Calls monitored, one cut short over reference to 'a gun and money'
Justice Department filings highlight specific concerns about Al Saadi's conduct in detention. During a FaceTime call with a woman believed to be his mother, he said: "We shall not care whether we fall upon death or death falls upon us as long as we are on the path of truth." A recording of the call was shared on social media and viewed nearly 100,000 times.
In a separate phone call, he asked about a member of Kataib Hezbollah and about "work" for a person the FBI believes to be an IRGC operative. Agents cut short one call in which there was reference to a gun and money.
The Justice Department documents stated there were concerns Al Saadi was "enlisting third parties to engage in certain conduct, including planning or even carrying out more attacks such as the European terrorist attacks."
Intelligence analysts warn Iran is operating at full capacity in the UK
Jonathan Hackett, a US intelligence expert, told the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London that Iranian operations in the UK had recovered after a brief dip around the time of Al Saadi's transfer to US custody in mid-year. He assessed that an associate still at large had been mobilised to continue the network's activities.
"Another person like Al Saadi, working within the same circle, has been remotely contacting and recruiting and tasking assets inside the UK," Hackett said. "Most likely, this seems to be a resumption of the exact same operations the IRGC had undertaken. So that means Iran is operating at the maximum of its capability in the UK."
UK security services have said more than 50 Iran-linked arrests have been made in Britain over the past year as Tehran's operations against targets in the country have intensified.
Alleged ties to senior IRGC commanders killed in 2020
Prosecutors allege Al Saadi worked closely with Major General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the IRGC's Quds Force, and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis — both killed in a US air strike in January 2020. Social media accounts attributed to Al Saadi showed photographs of him alongside Suleimani at what appeared to be a military facility.
Al Saadi is alleged to have publicly called for attacks on Americans in retaliation for those deaths, posting on platforms including Snapchat and Telegram and discussing attack planning in calls recorded by an FBI informant whose assistance he had solicited. He told the informant he was willing to kill people in any such attack, prosecutors say.
Defence team contests conditions of detention
Al Saadi is currently held without bail and is expected to face trial next summer. He faces life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.
His legal team, Federal Defenders of New York, has described the case as a "political prosecution" and challenged the conditions under which he is detained, which they say amount to near-solitary confinement with strict limits on contact with his family.
"By keeping Mr Al Saadi in extreme solitary confinement and aggressively curtailing his access to information, the government is violating his rights under the constitution and the third Geneva Convention," the lawyers said, as quoted by The Times. "We will continue to vigorously challenge these inhumane conditions."
The defence argued that the restrictions imposed on Al Saadi relied on speculation and misinterpretation and did not hold up to scrutiny.
Source: The Sun