The US Justice Department has charged three Iran-backed men over a string of alleged plots in the US and Europe, including a September incident near RAF Fairford, a British air base where US armed forces were stationed. The charges appear in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, and they are allegations rather than findings by a court. The indictment says the men communicated with contacts in the UK from prison and from Iran while the plans were being made. Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the RAF Fairford incident.
Who the indictment names
The three men are Iranian Mohsen Mohajeri, Iraqi national Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, and dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) says they planned attacks in Europe that were carried out under the name of a purportedly new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, known as HAYI. According to the department, HAYI claimed 18 attacks in Europe in spring 2026, seven of them in the UK, involving arson, explosives and a near-fatal stabbing in London of two Jewish men, one of them a dual US-British citizen.
One of the men, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, is accused of contacting people in the UK from a New York prison, where he is awaiting trial on earlier charges. The other two are accused of doing the same from Iran. FBI Director Kash Patel said one of the accused sent coded messages from detention to help future acts of violence. He also said the men were involved in nearly 20 attempted attacks in support of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.
The RAF Fairford incident
A major incident was declared on 27 September near the RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire, after three suspicious vans were seen near the airbase. No explosive materials were found in the vans, but a quantity of petrol was seized. The DOJ says al-Hassani directed and paid associates in the UK in August, including one person he paid on 22 August to carry out surveillance of the base's perimeter.
In September, the DOJ alleges, he paid several people to prepare for the plot. This included buying vans and barrels of fuel, researching chemical accelerants such as potassium chloride, and purchasing metal objects that could be used as shrapnel. The vans were made to look as if they belonged to a fuel delivery business and a swimming pool supply business. The department says that on 26 September he tasked people to drive three vans to the base, and that at least two of them were stopped at a security roadblock. A local farmer heading home from a party spotted the vans in the early hours of 27 September and called the police.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Spring 2026: HAYI claims 18 attacks in Europe, seven of them in the UK, according to the DOJ.
- April: two Jewish men are stabbed in Golders Green, north London. A suspect is due to stand trial next year.
- August: the DOJ says al-Hassani directs and pays associates in the UK.
- 22 August: a person is paid to carry out pre-operational surveillance of the RAF Fairford perimeter.
- 26 September: drivers are tasked with taking three vans to the base; at least two are stopped at a roadblock.
- 27 September: a major incident is declared after a farmer calls police, and seven men are later arrested in the UK.
The sources do not say when the US case will reach court. The indictment's allegations remain unproven, and the trial of the Golders Green suspect is set for next year.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Amrika ke Justice Department ne teen Iran-backed afraad par Europe aur US mein hamlon ki sazish ke ilzam mein charges lagaye hain. Inmein se aik maamla 27 September ko RAF Fairford base ke qareeb mushtabah vans se juda hai, jahan petrol zabt hua lekin koi dhamaka khez maadda nahi mila. Iran ne is maamle mein apni shamooliyat ki sakht tardeed ki hai, aur UK mein sat afraad giraftar hue hain. Pakistan ke aam logon par abhi seedha asar nahi bataya gaya, lekin US-Iran tanav se tel ki qeematon par dabao ho sakta hai.
