‘Old job’ in phone calls: plot to attack RAF Fairford from a New York jail, indictment claims

Photo: Collected

A commander of an Iran-backed armed group continued to run a plan to attack an important military airbase in the United Kingdom by sending coded messages even while detained in a New York jail — a new indictment by US federal prosecutors has claimed.

CNN reported on Wednesday (11 November) that the accused is named Mohammad Dawood al-Saadi. This dual national of Iran and Iraq is linked to the Iran-backed armed group Kataib Hezbollah. According to the allegation, while detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, he directed an attack on the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base by speaking in coded language on the phone with family members.

US B-1 bombers are deployed at this base, and it is being used in military operations against Iran.

A grand jury in New York filed the new indictment on Tuesday. Along with al-Saadi, it charges Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operative Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hasani.

According to the indictment, al-Hasani was in charge of the initial preparations for the plan. He arranged surveillance of the airbase and also gave money to several people to buy a van and fuel-filled drums. He kept in contact with the attackers while they were moving towards the base.

Last September, UK police identified three suspicious vehicles heading towards the Fairford base. Seven people were arrested at the time on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. As no explosives were found in the vehicles, they were later released on strict conditions. Investigators believe the accused intended to use the fuel-filled vans themselves as explosives. Some of them were arrested again in late October.

Prosecutors claim that from jail al-Saadi used to direct the transfer of money to relatives in Iraq. In phone calls he referred to the attack plan as ‘work’ or ‘old work’. In a call in July, he asked his sister whether their ‘old work’ had been cancelled or put on hold for now. His sister replied, ‘It has not been cancelled.’

In another call on 24 September, he told family members, ‘Give him the money, then we will be able to do the work.’ According to the indictment, his associates attempted the attack on the Fairford base just three days later.

US prosecutors claim al-Saadi was once a close associate of former Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani of Iran. When Soleimani was killed in a US air strike in 2020, al-Saadi was supposed to be with him. The indictment also says he had close contact with Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Earlier, al-Saadi was accused of a role in filming videos of various attacks, including arson at Jewish institutions in Europe, and creating propaganda material. He is also accused of trying to recruit people to carry out killings at various places in the United States, including a synagogue.

Because of concerns over his phone calls from jail, the US Justice Department imposed special administrative measures. These banned him from contact with anyone other than his lawyers and close relatives. Prosecutors say al-Saadi used coded words in phone calls and told family members to be careful to avoid surveillance.

Background

According to a JNS report of May 2026, after al-Saadi, 32, was brought to the United States in early May, the US Justice Department announced an eight-count indictment against him; the charges are terrorism-related and linked to Kataib Hezbollah and the IRGC.

A report by The National of 19 October 2026 says al-Saadi is alleged to have worked closely with Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis; both were killed in the same US air strike in early 2020.

Sources

Background sources: JNS, May 2026; The National, 19 October 2026