Mohammad al-Saadi, 32, is accused of masterminding the suspected terror plot at RAF Fairford from his New York prison cell using coded messages passed through FaceTime calls to his family.
Al-Saadi was extradited to the US in May over charges linking him to around 20 attempted terror attacks across Europe, including a campaign of antisemitic fire-bombings in London. Despite being in solitary confinement, he was able to coordinate with two other men back in Iran, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, ahead of the planned strike on the Gloucestershire RAF base, US prosecutors said.
Indictment details coded messages
An eight-count indictment unsealed in a federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday alleges that al-Saadi passed 'coded messages' to the pair during phone calls from jail ahead of the plot. Prosecutors also claimed that al-Saadi used FaceTime calls to his mother and sister in Iraq to get messages to his associates Al-Hassani and Mohajeri.
In a call to his family from the Brooklyn jail, al-Saadi told family he owed money to Mohajeri, asking them to pass messages to him about 'work, a term prosecutors say he used to describe terrorist activity. “What are they doing about all our old work?” he asked his sister on July 30, according to the indictment. He asked her whether it had been cancelled or just put on pause the document claims, to which she responded that “it isn't cancelled”.
Monitored calls and alleged attacks
In a later call, al-Saadi instructed al-Hassani to “give him money so we can do it” after being told his co-conspirator had been transferred to the “international section”. Al-Saadi was allowed phone and FaceTime communication with his family, although each call was monitored and recorded by the FBI. He was eventually limited to just one call per month lasting an hour after the US government cited concerns al-Saadi was using coded language, including “work” and “a job”. However, court filings show Al-Saadi made nine phone or video calls from jail between June and September.
The trio allegedly organised attacks, including an arson attack on a Jewish charity organisation in London in April and the planned strike at RAF Fairford, in the name of pro-Iranian militant group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI). The organisation has close ties to the Kata’ib Hizballah paramilitary group under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The trio watched the arson attack on the Jewish charity organisation in London in real time online as an individual carried out their orders, prosecutors said. The following day another attack was ordered on a synagogue in London, with al-Hassani directing the individual to 'light it up like a Christmas tree,' the indictment said.
Charges and UK arrests
The Justice Department claimed: “Al-Saadi, al-Hassani and Mohajeri, along with others, were in a room watching a FaceTime video with the individual who was carrying out the attack, which was projected onto a large screen against the background of the HAYI logo. “Al-Hassani directed the perpetrators’ actions, including by instructing the individual on the other end of the call to execute the attack and directing that individual to take a lighter and ‘light one in your hand’, ‘light it’ and ‘throw the fourth one’. “Al-Saadi recorded the attack in real time, while Mohajeri recorded al-Hassani and al-Saadi in the room as they directed the attack.”
New York attorney Jamie McDonald said: “These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organisations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members. “The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical – it is very real.”
The three men have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups Kataeb Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, conspiring and providing material support for acts of terrorism, and conspiring to bomb a place of public use. Al-Saadi is additionally charged with attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and attempted destruction of property by means of fire or explosive.
Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty to initial charges in June alleging that he plotted 18 attacks in Europe, including the Golders Green stabbings. He has been held behind bars without bail since, claiming he was a “prisoner of war”. The latest indictment links al-Saadi to the RAF Fairford plot which saw police called to Fairford, Gloucestershire on September 27 after a trio of suspicious vehicles were spotted travelling towards the base.
Five British nationals were arrested in connection with the incident on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences, while a British-Iranian dual national was arrested several days later. All of them were released on bail. Two men were charged by British counter-terrorism police over the suspected terror plot in October. Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir, both 24, were allegedly told to drive three vans to the base by an Iranian operative known only as “Ali”, a court heard last month.
One of the five men then called the police in the early hours of September 27, after their handler allegedly told them there was a bomb in the vehicles, sparking the major incident. Abdulkarim, of Westminster, is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between 31 August and 28 September 2026. Essghir, also of Westminster, is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on 22 August 2026. Abdulkarim remains on bail while Essghir was remanded in custody. Six other men arrested during the investigation remain on police bail.
