Mohammad Ali Hassani (35) has been accused of masterminding nearly 20 terrorist plots in the US and Europe in support of Iranian-backed groups.
Hassani, an Iraqi national, was charged on Tuesday with six terrorism-related offences by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Prosecutors allege that the terrorist plot against RAF Fairford airbase in the UK was orchestrated via FaceTime, reports The Telegraph.
In an indictment made public in New York on Tuesday, the prosecution alleged that Hassani “orchestrated a terrorist plot at a British Royal Air Force base” where US military aircraft and personnel were stationed.
Hassani “led and paid accomplices” in the UK to prepare the “RAF Fairford terror plot”.
It is also alleged that he and two other men – Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who holds both Iranian and Iraqi citizenship, and Mohsen Mohajeri, who is an Iranian national – were ‘involved’ in nearly 20 attempted attacks in the US and Europe.
Al-Saadi, who at the time was being held in a US prison awaiting trial, is said to have used telephone calls to convey coded messages in the days leading up to the incident at Fairford.
The accused are alleged to have supported the terrorist organisations the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata’ib Hizballah, and some of the terrorist attacks were carried out in the name of a new terrorist group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI).
HAYI claimed responsibility for 18 terrorist attacks across Europe during the spring, including seven in the UK – more than in any other European country.
The attacks included arson attacks on synagogues and ambulances linked to London’s Jewish community, as well as a near-fatal knife attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green, London.
Stabbing in Jewish neighbourhood in London classified as a terrorist act
Hassani is said to have given instructions to the perpetrators via FaceTime. Photographs show Hassani and Mohajeri looking at what appears to be a map of London during a ‘meeting to plan terrorist attacks’.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche stated:
Anyone who plans a terrorist attack on a military base where American troops are stationed will be prosecuted by the US government.
Jamie McDonald, a lawyer in New York, said that al-Saadi continued to coordinate with the other defendants in the days leading up to the planned terrorist attack.
As alleged, 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.”
The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical—it is very real.
The war in Iran has reached Europe.
