US indicts three men over alleged RAF Fairford plot

The US Justice Department said on November 10 that an eight-count superseding indictment charges Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani over alleged support for nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States. The indictment includes allegations tied to a September plot at RAF Fairford, a British base where US armed forces were stationed.

The department said the men allegedly acted in support of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Prosecutors allege that al-Hassani organised the Fairford plot while he and Mohajeri were in Iran, relying on contacts in the United Kingdom. Al-Saadi, who was imprisoned awaiting trial on other terrorism charges, allegedly tried to coordinate with them through coded messages passed by third parties.

• The new indictment names three men and contains eight counts, according to the Justice Department.
• The Fairford allegations concern an incident in September; the US charges were announced in November.
• UK police actions and the US charges are separate proceedings, and the allegations have not been resolved in court.

What prosecutors allege about RAF Fairford

TheJournal.ie reported that police were called after a local farmer saw men and white vans behaving suspiciously. Al Jazeera reported that six men were arrested in connection with the episode and released on bail. Two were later rearrested on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service and charged under the UK National Security Act. The US indictment adds charges concerning alleged roles in that earlier incident.

Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors said al-Saadi used coded language in phone calls to his mother and sister in Iraq. The Justice Department said he had previously been charged in May over alleged planning and promotion of about 18 attacks in Europe and an attempted synagogue bombing in New York. Al Jazeera reported that he pleaded not guilty to those earlier charges in June.

What the charges mean for the defendants

The Justice Department lists potential maximum penalties, including life imprisonment on some counts. Those are statutory maximums, not sentences. Al Jazeera reported that al-Saadi remained in US custody; prosecutors had not disclosed where Mohajeri and al-Hassani were. The eventual outcomes of the US charges and UK proceedings are not established in the reports.

Days after the Fairford incident, the United States withdrew its B-1 bombers from the base, Al Jazeera reported. Iran strongly denied involvement in the incident; Al Jazeera said there was no immediate Iranian comment on the US charges.