Three Iran-backed suspects plotted attacks including RAF Fairford incident, US says

New York — An indictment unsealed on Tuesday reveals how a man jailed for terrorism offenses in the United States allegedly facilitated secret communications between Iranian operatives and U.S. air force personnel stationed at a British air base. The allegations stem from a series of detentions on September 27, following the discovery of three vans en route to the Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, England, where U.S. bombers were based.

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iranian-Iraqi national detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, is accused of plotting the bombing of the Fairford air base, despite his arrest in spring. Prosecutors allege that al-Saadi utilized coded language during phone and video calls with relatives in Iraq to convey instructions to associates for carrying out the bombing.

Two additional individuals have also been charged in connection with the alleged plot, which reportedly involved over 20 planned terror attacks.