US Charges 3 Iran-Backed Operatives in Nearly 20 Attacks on Jewish Communities and UK Air Base Plot

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (TodayViralUSA) — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday charged three men they describe as Iran-backed operatives with orchestrating a campaign of nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as a September plot against a British air base that was hosting American bombers.

An eight-count superseding indictment unsealed in federal court names 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 Justice Department said the three acted on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hizballah, both designated foreign terrorist organizations. Only al-Saadi is in U.S. custody.

Plotting from a jail cell

The most striking allegation is that al-Saadi kept directing operations after his arrest. He was detained abroad on May 1 and transferred to New York, where he was already charged with planning about 18 attacks in Europe and attempting to bomb a Manhattan synagogue.

Prosecutors say he used phone calls with relatives in Iraq to pass coded messages to his co-defendants. On a Sept. 24 call, according to the indictment, he asked about “Ali” — a name prosecutors link to al-Hassani — and told his family to “give him money so we can do it.” Three days later, the alleged plot at RAF Fairford unfolded.

“Even after one of their co-conspirators was arrested and placed in federal custody, the defendants allegedly continued coordinating terrorist activity through coded communications and a network of associates overseas,” said Jamie McDonald, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The RAF Fairford plot

According to the Justice Department, al-Hassani, operating from Iran, paid associates in Britain to scout the perimeter of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in August, then to obtain vans, barrels of fuel and metal objects that could serve as shrapnel. The vans were fitted with custom decals to look like they belonged to a fuel delivery company and a pool supply business.

On Sept. 26, three vans were driven toward the base, prosecutors said. At least two were turned back at a security roadblock, and British authorities recovered the vehicles and arrested their occupants early the next morning. The BBC reported that no explosives were found in the vans, though a quantity of petrol was seized, and that seven men have been arrested in Britain over the incident. Iran has denied any involvement.

The U.S. military later withdrew bombers it had stationed at the base for operations against Iran. On Tuesday, officials also said U.S. Air Force aircraft had been moved from another British base, RAF Mildenhall, because of a security threat, PBS NewsHour reported.

A spring wave of attacks in Europe

Prosecutors say the defendants planned attacks carried out in the spring of 2026 under the banner of a purportedly new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, or HAYI, which the Justice Department called a front for Kata’ib Hizballah and other groups. Of the 18 attacks HAYI claimed in Europe, seven took place in Britain. They included arsons, explosive attacks and the near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, one of them a dual U.S.-British citizen.

The indictment alleges that the men at times directed attacks live over video calls. In one April call, prosecutors say, al-Hassani told a person attacking a London synagogue with an improvised explosive device to “light it up like a Christmas tree.”

What comes next

The charges include conspiring to provide material support to terrorist organizations, conspiring to bomb a place of public use and financing terrorism. Several counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“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. As with any indictment, the charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.