Prosecutors Allege Jailed Iranian Operative Directed RAF Fairford Plot Through Coded Calls to Family

Since five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford on Sept. 27, the incident has stayed largely unexplained in public. Prosecutors in New York now say they know who was behind it.

An eight-count superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday charges Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani with terrorism-related offenses tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata'ib Hizballah. The U.S. government has designated both as foreign terrorist organizations. These are allegations. None of the three has been tried or convicted of the charges.

What the indictment alleges

Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, was already in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn when the plot took shape, according to prosecutors. He was charged in May with planning and promoting 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and with attempting to bomb a synagogue in New York.

The new filing says he used telephone calls with relatives in Iraq to relay coded messages. Prosecutors say he used nicknames, asked family members to move money, and asked them to pass messages about "work" to Mohajeri, an IRGC operative. The indictment says al-Saadi used that same word for terrorist attacks in the past.

In a July call, al-Saadi allegedly asked his sister whether their "old work" had been cancelled or paused. She allegedly answered: "it isn't cancelled." On a Sept. 24 call, he allegedly told relatives to "give him [al-Hassani] money so we can do it."

According to the indictment, al-Hassani directed associates in the UK to surveil RAF Fairford in August and paid one person to film the base perimeter. Associates then obtained three vans and barrels of fuel. They researched chemical accelerants and bought metal objects that could serve as shrapnel, prosecutors allege. The vans were disguised with decals to look like fuel delivery and swimming pool supply vehicles.

On Sept. 26, al-Hassani allegedly told associates to drive the vans toward the base. At least two hit a security roadblock and could not proceed. British authorities recovered all three vehicles and arrested the occupants the next morning.

"Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American service members will be prosecuted by the United States government," Attorney General Todd Blanche said. U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald of the Southern District of New York said "the threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical – it is very real."

The UK case and what remains unproven

The base is the European home of U.S. bombers used in the war against Iran. In July, the IRGC issued a statement calling bases used by U.S. aircraft against Iran, including Fairford, "legitimate targets." The Pentagon later withdrew roughly a dozen B-1 bombers from Fairford after the incident.

British prosecutors have charged two men under the 2023 National Security Act. Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, is accused of conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service between Aug. 31 and Sept. 28. Counter-terror police say that country is believed to be Iran. Nouman Essghir, 24, who holds dual British-Iranian nationality, is charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK on Aug. 22.

Prosecutors told Westminster Magistrates' Court that Abdulkarim coordinated with an Iranian handler called "Ali," who allegedly sent nearly £70,000 for box vans, phones, streaming cameras and fuel. They said Essghir livestreamed a drive around the perimeter in August. The court also heard that the handler allegedly told the group a bomb was loaded in one van, and that at least one member then called police. Neither the UK filings nor the U.S. indictment, as described by officials, say who "Ali" is in relation to the three men charged in New York.

No bomb was found. Seven men were arrested in connection with the incident and later released on stringent conditions. Several were rearrested in late October after British authorities said it was highly likely the plot was coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the IRGC. People briefed on the matter told CNN the fuel-filled vans were meant to serve as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. Prosecutors have not publicly shown that.

Iran's ambassador to Britain denied the allegation in a Sept. 28 statement posted to social media.

Wider network alleged

The indictment places the Fairford plan inside a larger campaign. Prosecutors say all three defendants helped organize 18 attacks in Europe on behalf of a group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), which the Justice Department calls a front for Kata'ib Hizballah and other designated groups. HAYI claimed responsibility for seven attacks in the UK this spring, involving arson and explosives. One was the near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, including a dual U.S.-British citizen.

According to the filing, al-Saadi and Mohajeri also helped produce and publish online propaganda videos of the attacks. A 2024 Justice Department photo shows al-Saadi in a conference room with weapons and a map of the United States.

The case raises an obvious question. A man held in a federal jail is accused of running an operation overseas through ordinary family phone calls for months. Prosecutors say that is what happened. A trial date for the New York case has not been announced.

The UK case moves next. Abdulkarim and Essghir are due back in court Nov. 20 at the Old Bailey.