NEW YORK (AP) — A man imprisoned on terrorism charges in New York may have passed secret messages to Iranian agents planning an attack on a British air base used by the U.S. Air Force, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The new indictment offers fresh insight into an episode shrouded in mystery since September 27, when a group of men were arrested for alleged offenses related to explosives and terrorism after three suspicious vans were spotted heading towards a British air base where American bombers were stationed.
The new charges accuse Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national imprisoned at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, of playing a role in the plot to attack the Royal Air Force base in Fairford, western England, even though he had been arrested last spring.
According to prosecutors, al-Saadi used coded language in phone and video calls with his mother and sister in Iraq to convey messages encouraging his associates to carry out the airbase bombing.
Two other men have been charged in the case, which accuses Iran-backed operatives of planning nearly 20 terrorist attacks against Jewish communities in Europe and the United States.
Neither of the men, Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national, and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national, are in US custody.
US attorney says men sought to unleash ‘campaign of terror’
“These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of Iranian-affiliated terrorist organizations that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as the British military base RAF Fairford, which houses U.S. military personnel,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “The threat that Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist groups pose to America and our allies is not hypothetical – it is very real. »
Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing U.S. service members will be prosecuted by the United States government. »
Seven men arrested in the UK in connection with the incident at RAF Fairford base were all released on bail, but two were later rearrested on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence services and were charged under the national security law, British authorities said.
British authorities linked the incident to Tehranand although Iran denied any involvement, the arrests prompted the United States to withdraw its bombers stationed there. THE the bombers were redeployed in the United States.
RAF Fairford, located 100 miles west of London, was used by US bombers during decades of conflict in the Middle East.
Man accused of fueling plots from prison with coded messages
U.S. prosecutors said in the indictment that al-Saadi, while speaking to his family from the Brooklyn jail, told them he owed Mohajeri money and ordered them to pass messages to him about “work,” a term al-Saadi used to describe terrorist activity.
“What are they doing with all our old work?” al-Saadi asked his sister during a July 30 call, according to the indictment. He reportedly asked her if the movie had been canceled or just put on hold, to which she responded that “it wasn’t canceled.”
In a September 24 call, al-Saadi asked about al-Hassani, who he was told had been transferred to the “International Section,” and asked his family to “give him money so we can do this,” he added.
Since his arrest in May, al-Saadi had been held in solitary confinement. The Justice Department said he was dangerous because of his desire to attack U.S. and Israeli interests.
New accusations come amid legal battle over access to al-Saadi’s phone
Al-Saadi was allowed to make phone and video calls with his family, but each call was monitored and recorded by the FBI, according to court records.
In September, al-Saadi’s lawyer complained that some of his calls had been repeatedly cut off and interrupted, without explanation. Citing concerns that he used coded language, including “work” and “a job,” the government later said it was limiting him to just one one-hour call per month.
Yet from June to September, al-Saadi participated in nine phone calls or video conferences from prison, according to a filing by prosecutors. In one, al-Saadi’s mother told him to stop talking about a topic because “they might end the call,” according to a court filing that said the FBI then ended the call.
The indictment alleged that the three men conspired together to use a network of contacts in the United Kingdom to carry out terrorist attacks on behalf of an Iranian-aligned terrorist network, which included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata’ib Hezbollah.
In one case, in mid-April, according to the indictment, al-Saadi, al-Hassani and Mohajeri ordered an individual to commit arson against a Jewish charity in London in real time as they watched the event on video projected from a laptop onto a large screen. The next day, they led another attack on a synagogue in London, with al-Hassani ordering the individual to “light it up like a Christmas tree,” the indictment says.
In June, al-Saadi pleaded not guilty to charges that he planned at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the US-Israeli war against Iran. He was called a “prisoner of war”. He has been held without bail ever since. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. prosecutors say al-Saadi was a commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah.
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Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington also contributed.
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