US indicts three men over alleged RAF Fairford plot and nearly 20 attacks
The US Justice Department has charged three men over alleged plots across Europe and the United States, including an attempted attack on RAF Fairford in September. Prosecutors say two men in Iran used UK contacts to prepare the plot, while Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi allegedly sent coded messages from a New York jail; only al-Saadi is in US custody.
Bottom line — The eight-count indictment links the Fairford plot to allegations of nearly 20 attacks targeting Jewish communities and military sites.
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According to the US Justice Department, al-Hassani paid someone to survey RAF Fairford's perimeter on 22 August and received video of the area.
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Prosecutors allege associates prepared three vans with fuel barrels and decals suggesting they belonged to delivery businesses.
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At least two vans were stopped at a security checkpoint on 26 September; UK police arrested their occupants the following morning, the BBC reports.
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The BBC says no explosives were found in the vans, but petrol was seized.
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The Justice Department alleges the men acted for a network linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi group Kata'ib Hizballah.
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The department says seven of 18 attacks claimed by the group HAYI in Europe in spring 2026 took place in the UK.
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Iran has denied involvement in the Fairford incident, according to the BBC.
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The US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford after the incident, the BBC and Deutsche Welle report.