US Indictment Accuses Man of Plotting Attack on UK Air Base
US federal prosecutors have accused Mohammad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian and Iraqi national, of being responsible for a foiled attack on a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in the UK where American B-1 bombers were stationed, The Guardian reported.
The charges come in an updated indictment, a formal document setting out criminal charges, which the US Justice Department announced on November 10, 2026. It names al-Saadi as Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi and charges him with two co-defendants, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, with eight counts of terrorism-related offences.
According to the indictment, al-Saadi plotted the attack while in custody. It alleges he sent plans to Mohajeri, an Iranian national and operative of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and to al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. The plans called for buying large quantities of chemicals that could be used as explosives for an attack on RAF Fairford in September.
The indictment further alleges that al-Hassani tasked others with surveilling the Fairford base and buying vans and barrels of fuel. It also claims his network researched purchasing chemical accelerants, which speed up fires and explosions, and metal objects that could be used as shrapnel, the fragments thrown out by an explosion.
Al-Saadi is accused of being associated with Kata'ib Hizballah, an armed group, and with the IRGC. The US has designated both as foreign terrorist organisations, a formal label used for groups it considers terrorist. The indictment alleges that al-Saadi planned the Fairford attack as retribution for the US war in Iran.
RAF Fairford is the European base for US Air Force bombers and was used by the United States during its bombing campaign against Iran. In July, the IRGC said that any bases used by the US to attack Iran, including Fairford, were legitimate targets.
The indictment also alleges involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States. According to a statement from the Southern District of New York, a federal court office, al-Saadi allegedly planned to bomb a synagogue in New York.
Separately, five men from London were arrested in Whelford, near RAF Fairford, on September 27 on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences.
