Iran-backed militant helped plot attack on UK's Fairford base from US jail, Justice Department says

The US Justice Department announced Tuesday that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national, plotted to attack the RAF Fairford air base in Britain while detained in a New York jail on criminal charges. Al-Saadi, who previously pleaded not guilty to eight counts including conspiracy to provide material support to the Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah, allegedly attempted to pass coded messages to two other suspected Iran-backed operatives through phone calls to his family.

In a court filing from October 14, Al-Saadi's lawyers argued that the prosecution's claims regarding coded language were speculative and relied on questionable Arabic translations, suggesting the flagged conversations had banal explanations. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated in October that the plot targeting the base, which has been used by US bombers for strikes on Iran, was highly likely coordinated in Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in the suspected plot.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, Jerusalem Post — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.