2 people charged in alleged RAF Fairford terror plot
British prosecutors have charged two men under the national security law after an incident at RAF Fairford, a key US bomber base in England. Police believe suspect was aiding Iran. About a dozen American B-1 bombers had already been withdrawn from the base after the incident.
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Three suspected Iranian-backed terrorists planned an attack on a British air base housing U.S. troops using pickup trucks carrying barrels of fuel, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The eight-count indictment charges Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani with terrorism-related offenses linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata’ib Hezbollah.
Prosecutors say the suspects targeted RAF Fairford in England, where U.S. military planes and personnel were stationed.
“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing U.S. service members will be prosecuted by the U.S. government,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release.
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A 2024 photo released by the Justice Department shows Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi in a conference room with weapons and a map of the United States. (Ministry of Justice)
According to the indictment, Al-Hassani ordered his associates in the United Kingdom to monitor RAF Fairford in August, paying one person to record video of the base’s perimeter.
The suspects’ associates then obtained three pickup trucks and barrels of fuel, researched chemical accelerators and purchased metal objects that could be used as explosive shrapnel, prosecutors said. They also disguised the vans with commercial stickers to look like vehicles belonging to fuel delivery and swimming pool supply companies.
On September 26, Al-Hassani allegedly ordered his associates to drive the three vans to the base. At least two of them ran into a security barrier and were unable to continue. British authorities recovered the three vehicles and arrested their occupants the following morning.
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Prosecutors say Al-Saadi helped coordinate the operation while he was imprisoned in New York awaiting trial on separate terrorism charges, using phone calls with family members in Iraq to transmit coded messages to his co-conspirators.
In a phone call on September 24, Al-Saadi reportedly asked questions about Al-Hassani and asked those close to him to “give him (al-Hassani) some money so we can do this.”
The alleged plot follows a series of attacks across Europe in March and April that prosecutors say the defendants helped organize on behalf of an Iran-aligned terrorist network. These attacks targeted synagogues, Jewish organizations, ambulances and an Israeli embassy, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in London.
Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian and Iraqi national, was arrested abroad in May and transferred to the United States. Prosecutors previously accused him of helping lead about 18 attacks in Europe and trying to coordinate an attack on a Manhattan synagogue.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, circled in red, and Mohammad Ali Al-Hassani, circled in green, appear in a video that prosecutors say shows them leading an attack in Europe. (Ministry of Justice)
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All three defendants face charges including conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, financing terrorism and conspiracy to bomb a public place. Some charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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