US Charges Three Iran-Backed Suspects Over European Plots and RAF Fairford Incident

The United States Department of Justice has unveiled criminal charges against three operatives supported by Iran, accusing them of orchestrating a series of planned attacks across the United States and Europe, including a security incident in September near the Royal Air Force base at Fairford in the United Kingdom, where American military forces are stationed. According to the department, an indictment unsealed on Tuesday names Iranian national Mohsen Mohajeri, Iraqi national Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, and dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi. One of the defendants is accused of communicating with British contacts from a New York prison where he is detained awaiting trial for other offenses, while the remaining two allegedly directed operations from Iran. Tehran has firmly rejected any connection to the RAF Fairford event, which came to public attention after local authorities received reports of suspicious vehicles near the installation, leading to seven arrests in the UK. The indictment claims that the trio coordinated European operations under the alias of a newly emerged organization known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya. The Department of Justice stated that out of eighteen European attacks in the spring of 2026 claimed by this group, seven occurred in Britain, encompassing arson, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing in London targeting two Jewish individuals, one of whom holds dual American and British nationality. FBI Director Kash Patel noted that the eight-count indictment demonstrates Iran's ongoing commitment to executing violent attacks in Western nations, adding that nearly twenty attempted operations were linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah. A major incident was officially declared on September 27 near RAF Fairford located in the Cotswolds region of Gloucestershire after three suspicious vans were identified near the perimeter. Although no explosives were discovered, law enforcement confiscated a quantity of petrol. Prosecutors allege that in August and September, al-Hassani funded and directed associates in the United Kingdom to conduct surveillance, acquire vans and fuel drums, research chemical accelerants like potassium chloride, and purchase metal objects for use as shrapnel. The vehicles were disguised to resemble commercial fuel delivery and pool supply trucks before being driven toward the base on September 26, though some were turned away by security roadblocks before being spotted by a local farmer returning home who subsequently alerted the police in the early hours of September 27. The Iranian embassy in London dismissed the allegations as unfounded and malicious speculation. Following the event, the United States removed all bombers from RAF Fairford, with President Donald Trump citing unspecified threats to the facility, which has historically been utilized by the United States Air Force and recently deployed B-1 and B-52 bombers for defensive strikes in the Middle East, prompting previous warnings from Iran that any base used against its territory is considered a legitimate target.