The US Justice Department has charged three men it describes as Iranian-backed operatives with plotting nearly 20 terror attacks across the United States and Europe, including a planned bombing of a British air base where American service members were stationed. Prosecutors say the alleged ringleader directed part of the plot from inside a federal jail in New York, using coded language on monitored phone calls to his family.
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| A US Air Force B-1B bomber on a runway. The United States withdrew its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in England after the suspected plot targeting the base. (The War Zone) |
The eight-count indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, in federal court in New York, names Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a 32-year-old dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, a 48-year-old Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. All three face charges including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups and conspiracy to bomb a place of public use.
The charges are allegations; the men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. But the indictment, announced the same day Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was moved to a US military base after threats against his life, has sharpened Washington's warnings that the threat from Iran and Iran-backed groups is active, not theoretical.
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| The US Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C. The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, in federal court in New York. |
The Indictment
According to prosecutors, the three men worked on behalf of a network aligned with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata'ib Hizballah, the Iran-backed militia in Iraq. Both organizations have been designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. Prosecutors say al-Saadi was a Kata'ib Hizballah commander.
The indictment accuses the men of using contacts in the United Kingdom to plan attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the United States and on RAF Fairford, the British base that has long hosted American bombers.
"These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organizations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members," Manhattan US Attorney Jamie McDonald said. "The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups 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 American service members will be prosecuted by the United States government." Neither of the two men charged alongside al-Saadi is in US custody, and prosecutors have not said where Mohajeri and al-Hassani are now.
Coded Calls From a Brooklyn Jail
The most striking allegation is that al-Saadi helped direct the plot while locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has been held since his arrest last spring.
Prosecutors say he used coded language in phone and video calls to his mother and sister in Iraq to pass messages encouraging associates to carry out the air base bombing. The word "work," according to the indictment, was his code for terrorist activity. On a July 30 call, he asked his sister, "What are they doing about all our old work?" — and whether it had been canceled or just put on pause. She responded that "it isn't canceled," the indictment says.
On a September 24 call, he asked about al-Hassani, was told he had been transferred to the "International Section," and instructed his family to "give him money so we can do it." Every call was monitored and recorded by the FBI; from June through September he took part in nine calls, according to a court filing. The government later limited him to a single hourlong call each month.
Al-Saadi has been held in solitary confinement since his May arrest. In June, he pleaded not guilty to charges that he plotted at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the war between the United States and Israel and Iran. He has been held without bail since.
The RAF Fairford Plot
The indictment offers the fullest account yet of an episode shrouded in mystery since September 27, when a group of men were detained on suspected explosives and terrorism offenses after three suspicious vans were spotted traveling toward RAF Fairford.
The base sits about 100 miles west of London and has hosted American bombers for decades, including bombers used in strikes on Iran. British authorities linked the September incident to Tehran; Iran has denied any involvement.
Seven men arrested in the United Kingdom in connection with the incident were all released on bail. One was subsequently rearrested on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service and charged, along with another man, under the National Security Act, British authorities said. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in October that the suspected plot was "highly likely" to have been coordinated in Iran.
Days after the September incident, the United States withdrew all of its B-1 bombers from the base, redeploying them to the United States. The new indictment says al-Saadi orchestrated the Fairford plot in approximately September 2026, passing coded messages to al-Hassani and Mohajeri through his family calls from jail.
A Campaign of Nearly 20 Plots
Beyond Fairford, prosecutors say the three men directed a wider campaign — nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks on Jewish targets in Europe and the United States.
In one instance in mid-April, the indictment says, the three men directed an individual to carry out an arson attack on a Jewish charity organization in London in real time, watching it on video projected from a laptop computer onto a large screen. The next day, they directed another attack on a synagogue in London, with al-Hassani directing the individual to "light it up like a Christmas tree," according to the indictment.
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| Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He moved from his Washington home to a US military base after threats against his life, according to reports confirmed by Treasury officials. (NBC News) |
Bessent Moved to a Military Base
On the same day the indictment was unsealed, reports emerged that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had recently moved from his Washington, DC, residence to a US military base after Iranian threats against his life. The New York Times first reported the move, and Treasury officials confirmed it, saying Bessent will "not be deterred by the Iranian regime's threats."
Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Bessent moved after the threats; a senior intelligence official had warned in a memo late last month that Iranian plots against US personnel had reached an advanced stage. The severity of the threats was not immediately clear, and the base's location was not disclosed.
Bessent has led the US sanctions and economic pressure campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, since August, aimed at pushing Tehran to end attacks on shipping and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Flight-tracking data on Tuesday also showed the US military had removed at least a dozen aircraft from a second British base, RAF Mildenhall, after what the Wall Street Journal described as a threat from Iran.
What This Means
The indictment matters for three reasons. First, it puts a named, detailed case behind months of warnings: prosecutors are now alleging in court that an Iran-aligned network plotted attacks on American service members and on Jewish communities in the United States and Europe, and that the plotting continued even after the alleged ringleader was behind bars.
Second, it exposes a security problem beyond one base: if prosecutors are right, a jailed defendant passed operational messages through calls the FBI was monitoring — and the same day the charges were unsealed, the Treasury secretary was reported to be living on a military base, an extraordinary measure that signals how seriously the administration is taking the threat.
None of this has been tested in court. The charges are allegations, Iran has denied any role in the Fairford plot, and the two co-defendants are not in US custody. But the indictment — eight counts, three named defendants, and recorded calls — gives the public its clearest look yet at what prosecutors say the network was doing.
What Happens Next
Al-Saadi remains in custody in New York without bail as his earlier case moves through the courts; the new indictment adds to the charges he faces. Prosecutors must now show how they intend to bring Mohajeri and al-Hassani before a US court, and whether the other alleged plots produce further charges.
British authorities are continuing their investigation, including the National Security Act case against the man rearrested after the September detentions. US officials have not said when the B-1 bombers might return to Fairford, or whether the aircraft moved from RAF Mildenhall will be redeployed.
For now, the episode has left two visible marks: an American bomber force pulled out of a British base, and a cabinet secretary under military protection at home.
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