The United States Justice Department has arrested and charged an Iraqi national, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, over his alleged involvement in nearly 20 terror attacks and attempted attacks across the US and Europe. The 32-year-old appeared in Manhattan federal court on Friday to face six terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organisations and conspiracy to bomb a place of public use.
Al-Saadi is accused of being an operative for the Iraqi paramilitary group Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both designated as terrorist organisations by the US. The charges also include attempted destruction of property by means of fire or explosives. According to the Justice Department, al-Saadi worked closely with former IRGC commander Qassem Suleimani and Kata’ib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, both killed in a US airstrike in 2020.
The attacks allegedly linked to al-Saadi include a firebombing of the New York Mellon bank in Amsterdam in March, an arson attack on a synagogue in Skopje, North Macedonia, in April, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one of whom was a dual US-British citizen. The London attack prompted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to describe a “crisis of antisemitism”.
The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that al-Saadi used a front group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) to claim responsibility for the attacks. It also says he posted a message on Snapchat in March 2026 to activate terrorist cells after the US and Israel began military action in Iran. Al-Saadi is also accused of involvement in an abortive attack on a Bank of America branch in Paris, which involved underworld figures linked to Iran.
