Three Iranian men indicted on terrorism charges in New York

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(The Center Square) – Three Iranian men have been indicted on terrorism charges in New York, including for a plan to commit a terrorist attack at a British Royal Air Force Base in the U.K. to kill American servicemen and women, federal authorities said.

An eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed Tuesday charging the Iranian men with supporting Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The U.S. government has designated both as foreign terrorist organizations. 

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, were charged with planning nearly 20 terrorist attacks and attempted attacks in Europe and the U.S., authorities announced. 

The most recent was a foiled terrorist plot in September against U.S. servicemembers stationed in the U.K., the Attorney General's Office alleged.

“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 a statement.  “The defendants listed in the indictment allegedly supported two foreign terrorist organizations, and al-Saadi allegedly coordinated with his co-defendants in the days leading up to the attempted terrorist plot. This Department of Justice will continue dismantling terrorist networks and protecting the American people from terrorist organizations.” 

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said in a statement, “The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical – it is very real.” His office is prosecuting the case.

“Even after one of [the Iranians’] 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,” he added, referring to Al-Saadi who is currently in prison awaiting trial on pending terrorism charges in New York.

Al-Saadi, a longtime operative of the IRGC and Kata’ib Hizballah, was charged in May with planning and promoting 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and attempting to bomb a synagogue in New York on behalf of the IRGC and Kata’ib Hizballah. 

All three men helped orchestrate 18 terrorist attacks in Europe on behalf of a group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), according to the charges. The DOJ says HAYI is a front for Kata’ib Hizballah and other FTOs. In the spring, HAYI claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in Europe, including seven in the U.K. The attacks involved arson and explosives. One was a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men, including a dual U.S.-British citizen, in London.

While all three were personally involved in planning many of the European terrorist attacks, al-Saadi and Mohajeri helped create and publish online propaganda videos of the attacks, according to the complaint. 

The indictment includes photos and screenshots of videos. One includes pictures of al-Saadi appearing to stand in front of a cache of machine guns in a conference room with a U.S. map on the wall where a list of “legitimate targets” are identified.  

Others are screen shots of videos of meetings where authorities said orchestrated the attacks. One includes an April FaceTime video of an attack being carried out in real time during which Al-Hassani is accused of directing the perpetrators’ actions. 

In May, their plan to attack a synagogue in Manhattan was thwarted, authorities allege. Al-Saadi was arrested oversees and extradited to the U.S., authorities said.

After being extradited to the U.S., while in prison in August, he is accused of directing the plan to attack the RAF base by passing coded messages to immediate family members in Iraq who would then pass them on to Mohajeri and al-Hassani, authorities allege. 

In September, he paid associates in the U.K. to prepare and attack the RAF base, including performing surveillance of the base, procuring vans, barrels of fuel, researching the purchase of chemical accelerants and purchasing metallic objects to be used as explosive shrapnel, according to the charges. The perpetrators drove three vans to the RAF base disguised as fuel delivery and pool supply businesses, according to the charges. From prison, Al-Saadi communicated with them, coordinating their movements and directing them where to drive, according to the complaint. They were caught and arrested. 

The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation, working with dozens of federal, state, and local agencies to thwart the terrorist plot.