The US Department of Justice has announced charges against three Iran-backed operatives who it alleges were involved in a string of plots in the United States and Europe.
The department said Iranian agents most recently "orchestrated a terrorist plot at an air force base in the United Kingdom," saying they were involved in a major incident in September near RAF Fairford, where US forces are stationed. One man, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, is accused of communicating with contacts in Britain from a New York prison, where he is awaiting trial on earlier charges. The other two are accused of doing the same from Iran. Iran has strongly denied any involvement. Seven men have been arrested in Britain over the incident, which came to light when suspicious vans were reported near the base.
The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, names Iranian Mohsen Mohajeri, Iraqi national Mohammad Ali al-Hassani and Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi citizen. It accuses them of planning attacks in Europe carried out under the name of a purportedly new group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, known as HAYI.
The department said that of 18 attacks in Europe in the spring of 2026 for which HAYI claimed responsibility, seven took place in Britain. They involved arson, explosives and, in one case, a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one of them a dual US-British citizen.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the eight-count indictment showed Iran's determination to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the US. He said one of the three allegedly sent coded messages from detention to help future violence, and that the accused were involved in nearly 20 attempted attacks in support of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.
A major incident was declared near RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, on September 27 after three suspicious vans were seen near the base. No explosive materials were found, but a quantity of petrol was seized. The department alleges that in August al-Hassani directed and paid associates in Britain to prepare the plot, including paying one person on August 22 to survey the base perimeter.
The Iranian embassy in London said it "categorically rejects and strongly condemns" what it called unfounded and malicious speculation linking Iran to the incident. The United States withdrew all its bombers from RAF Fairford after the incident, with President Donald Trump citing "some threats" to the base.
