US Charges Three Men Over Alleged Terror Plot at RAF Fairford Air Base in Britain
The United States has charged three men it describes as Iranian-backed operatives over an alleged terror plot at RAF Fairford, a British air base that the US military used to station bombers during its war against Iran. The charges, announced on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, are the latest step in a case that stretches from a quiet English airfield to a New York courtroom — and, prosecutors say, to a campaign of attacks across Europe.
The US Department of Justice unsealed an eight-count indictment in a federal court in Manhattan, New York. It names three men: Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani. Prosecutors say the men acted in support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi armed group. Both organisations are designated as terrorist groups by the United States.
Only one of the three men is in custody. Al-Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, has been held in a federal jail in New York since May. Prosecutors have not said where Mohajeri, 48, an Iranian national, and al-Hassani, 35, an Iraqi national, are.
What happened at RAF Fairford?
RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, in south-west England. The United States has used the base for decades, and it became a key location for American B-1B Lancer bombers during the war against Iran.
In September 2026, police were called to the base after a local farmer reported seeing a group of men with several white vans behaving suspiciously near the site. According to the US charging document, al-Hassani directed others to drive the vans towards the base. Some of the vans carried barrels of fuel.
Prosecutors say the plan went further than that. They allege that al-Hassani had earlier paid the group to buy metal objects that could be used as shrapnel, and to disguise the vans as fuel delivery vehicles. In simple terms, the allegation is that the vans were meant to be used as vehicle bombs, made to look like ordinary fuel trucks so they could get close to the base.
Seven men were arrested in connection with the episode in September. All seven were later released on bail. Two of them were then re-arrested and charged in Britain under the National Security Act. One was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, believed to be Iran’s, and the other with entering a prohibited place for a purpose “prejudicial” to the United Kingdom.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the incident. There was no immediate comment from Iran on the new US charges.
Why the base mattered
The alleged plot did not happen in isolation. Days after the September incident, the United States withdrew all of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford. The move showed how seriously Washington took the threat to the base and the American service members stationed there.
Then, on Tuesday 10 November — the same day the charges were announced — flight-tracking data showed that the US military had removed at least a dozen aircraft from a second British air base, RAF Mildenhall, following what the Wall Street Journal described as a threat from Iran.
The pattern is clear: American aircraft based in Britain have become a focus of concern, and the US is moving them out of harm’s way while the threat is assessed.
Who are the three men?
The indictment gives a picture of three men with different roles in the alleged plot.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, is a dual Iranian-Iraqi national. He is the only one of the three in US custody, having been arrested in May 2026. Prosecutors say he coordinated the plot from inside a New York jail, passing coded messages to al-Hassani and Mohajeri during phone calls to his mother and sister in Iraq.
Mohsen Mohajeri, 48, is an Iranian national. Prosecutors say he received al-Saadi’s coded messages and helped coordinate the plot. His whereabouts have not been disclosed.
Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, 35, is an Iraqi national. According to the charging document, he was the man on the ground: the one who directed others to drive the vans towards RAF Fairford, paid for the metal objects that could serve as shrapnel, and arranged the disguise of the vans as fuel delivery vehicles.
What are they charged with?
All three men face three charges:
- Conspiracy to provide material support to Kataeb Hezbollah and the IRGC
- Conspiring to provide, and providing, material support for acts of terrorism
- Conspiring to bomb a place of public use
Al-Saadi faces two additional charges: attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and attempted destruction of property by means of fire or explosive.
“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government,” US Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Tuesday.
Manhattan US Attorney Jamie McDonald was equally direct. “These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organizations affiliated with Iran that targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, and the British military base, RAF Fairford, housing American service members,” she said. “The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical — it is very real.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the case showed Iran’s determination to carry out attacks in Europe and the United States.
A wider campaign, prosecutors say
The Fairford plot is only part of the case. Prosecutors link the three men to nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States, carried out in support of the IRGC and Kataeb Hezbollah.
US authorities first charged al-Saadi in May 2026. At that time, they accused him of directing others to attack American and other targets and to kill Americans, in retaliation for the war against Iran. Prosecutors said he and his associates had planned, coordinated and claimed responsibility for at least 18 terrorist attacks in Europe and two in Canada.
The examples given by prosecutors include the non-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London in April 2026, and arson attacks on synagogues, businesses and Jewish schools in Amsterdam, Munich and elsewhere in Europe.
Al-Saadi pleaded not guilty to those charges in June and described himself as a “prisoner of war”. He has been held without bail since his arrest in May. The new indictment adds his alleged role in the Fairford plot, and charges Mohajeri and al-Hassani for the first time.
What is Kataeb Hezbollah?
Kataeb Hezbollah, also spelled Kata’ib Hizballah, is an Iraqi armed group that the United States has designated as a terrorist organisation. It is one of several Iran-backed groups operating in Iraq, and Washington has long accused it of attacking American forces and interests in the region.
The IRGC, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is the country’s most powerful military and security force. The United States designated it as a foreign terrorist organisation in 2019. Iran rejects that designation and says the IRGC is a legitimate part of its armed forces.
Prosecutors say the three men acted in support of both organisations. That is the link, in the American case, between a plot at an English airfield and the wider confrontation between the United States and Iran.
What happens next?
The case will now move through the US federal court system in Manhattan. Al-Saadi is already in custody and facing trial on the earlier charges. Whether Mohajeri and al-Hassani will ever appear in an American courtroom is unclear, because prosecutors have not disclosed where they are.
In Britain, the two men charged under the National Security Act face their own legal proceedings, separate from the American case.
For the US military, the immediate question is the safety of its bases in Britain. The withdrawal of bombers from Fairford and aircraft from Mildenhall suggests that American commanders are treating the threat as ongoing, not as something that ended with the arrests in September.
The case also raises a wider question about how far the confrontation between the US and Iran has spread. The war may have been fought in the Middle East, but prosecutors say its shadow now reaches an airfield in the English countryside — and the courtrooms of New York and London.
FAQ
What is RAF Fairford?
RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, south-west England. The United States has used it for decades to station bombers, including B-1B Lancer aircraft.
Who has been charged?
Three men: Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, 48, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, 35, an Iraqi national.
What are they accused of?
Prosecutors say they helped plan a terror plot at RAF Fairford in September 2026, using white vans carrying fuel barrels and disguised as fuel delivery vehicles. They are also linked, prosecutors say, to nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and North America.
Is anyone in custody?
Al-Saadi has been in a New York jail since May 2026. The whereabouts of Mohajeri and al-Hassani have not been disclosed. In Britain, two men have been charged under the National Security Act over the Fairford incident.
What has Iran said?
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the Fairford incident. There was no immediate comment from Iran on the new US charges.
Conclusion
The charges announced on 10 November turn a strange September incident at an English air base into a major international case. A farmer’s report about suspicious vans has led to an eight-count indictment in New York, the withdrawal of American bombers from two British bases, and fresh questions about how far the US-Iran confrontation can reach.
The men charged have not yet had their day in court, and the allegations against them have not been tested. But the case is a reminder that the consequences of the war against Iran are still unfolding — in places far from the battlefield.
Sources
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
