Three face US charges over alleged RAF Fairford attack plot

U.S. prosecutors have charged three men over an alleged plot to attack RAF Fairford, a British air base used by American forces, with vans filled with fuel. An indictment made public Tuesday alleges that one defendant helped direct preparations while in federal custody in New York, using family members to pass coded messages.

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, was indicted in May on charges of conspiring to provide material support to Iran-backed terrorist organizations, including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata’ib Hezbollah, according to CBS News. The new, eight-count superseding indictment accuses him of coordinating the Fairford plot with Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.

Mohajeri is Iranian. CBS News described al-Hassani as Iraqi, while The Guardian described him as Iranian. Neither Mohajeri nor al-Hassani is in custody, two people familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Prosecutors allege that, beginning in August, Al-Saadi directed and paid associates in the United Kingdom to prepare for an attack. According to CBS News, the preparations included surveillance of the base, arranging vans and barrels of fuel, researching chemical accelerants and buying metal intended for use as shrapnel. The indictment alleges that three people were to drive fuel-filled vans toward Fairford, where the vans would explode. Al-Saadi also allegedly instructed associates to add decals so the vehicles would resemble fuel-delivery or pool-supply vans.

The indictment describes phone calls in which Al-Saadi allegedly used his family to relay instructions. In July, he asked his sister to pass messages to Mohajeri about “work,” which prosecutors said referred to terrorist activity, and asked whether some of that work had been canceled or paused. She replied that it “isn’t cancelled.” On Sept. 24, prosecutors say, Al-Saadi asked about al-Hassani and told his family to “give him money so we can do it,” referring to the Fairford attack.

Prosecutors allege that al-Hassani directed three people to drive the vans toward the base on Sept. 26. Two encountered security checkpoints and could not continue along their intended route. British authorities recovered three vans bearing fuel-delivery decals and arrested their drivers, according to CBS News. The Guardian reported that five men from London were arrested near the base on Sept. 27 on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offenses after a farmer reported vans blocking a road.

RAF Fairford is the European home for U.S. Air Force bombers. The Guardian reported that American B-1 bombers were stationed there and that the base was used during U.S. strikes on Iran. It also reported that the Revolutionary Guard said in July that bases used to attack Iran, including Fairford, were “legitimate targets.”

Prosecutors have separately accused Al-Saadi of planning an attack on a prominent Jewish institution in New York and involvement in approximately 18 reported attacks in Europe and two in Canada against U.S. and Israeli interests since March. Those allegations and the Fairford charges have not been proven in court.

“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said.