Washington, Nov 11 (IANS) US prosecutors have charged three men with terrorism-related offences over an alleged Iran-backed campaign of attacks in Europe and planned violence in the United States, including a thwarted plot against a British airbase hosting American military personnel.
The Justice Department said on Tuesday (local time) that an eight-count superseding indictment named Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen, Iranian national Mohsen Mohajeri and Iraqi national Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.
The men are accused of supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata’ib Hizballah, both designated foreign terrorist organisations by the United States. Prosecutors linked the network to nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks.
The most recent alleged target was RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, which housed US aircraft and service personnel at the time of the attempted attack in September.
According to the indictment, al-Hassani organised the plot from abroad with help from associates in Britain. Mohajeri was also in Iran at the time, while al-Saadi was already being held in federal custody in New York on earlier terrorism charges.
Prosecutors alleged that al-Saadi used telephone conversations with relatives in Iraq to send coded messages to his associates despite being behind bars.
Federal prosecutors said the preparations began in August. Associates allegedly conducted surveillance of the airbase, obtained vans and fuel barrels, researched chemical accelerants and acquired metal objects that could be used as shrapnel.
The vans were fitted with markings to make them appear to belong to fuel delivery and swimming pool supply businesses, according to prosecutors.
On September 26, three vans headed towards RAF Fairford. At least two encountered a security roadblock and could not proceed along their intended route. British authorities recovered three vans and arrested their occupants early the next morning.
Attorney General Todd Blanche warned that plots against military installations housing American personnel would attract prosecution.
“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American service members will be prosecuted by the United States government,” Blanche said.
The indictment outlines an alleged series of attacks on Jewish communities in Europe. Prosecutors say the men operated through a group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, or HAYI, described as a front for Iran-aligned terrorist organisations.
The group claimed responsibility for 18 attacks in Europe during the spring, seven of them in Britain. The incidents included arson, explosive attacks and a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one of whom held British and American citizenship.
Investigators further alleged that the defendants directed some attacks remotely, including through live video calls.
Al-Saadi was arrested abroad in May and transferred to US custody.
The charges include conspiracies to provide material support to designated terrorist organisations, terrorism financing and a conspiracy to bomb a public place.
–IANS
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