Iran-backed terror suspects plotted attack on US troops using vans packed with fuel, DOJ says

Three men have been charged in a US federal indictment over an alleged plot to attack RAF Fairford, a British air base hosting US troops. Prosecutors say the case matters because it links the planned attack to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata'ib Hizballah, and alleges that a suspect coordinated parts of the operation while jailed in New York.

The indictment says associates surveyed the base, obtained three vans and fuel barrels, researched chemical accelerants and bought metal objects that could serve as shrapnel. On 26 September, they allegedly drove the vans towards the base; security roadblocks stopped at least two, and British authorities recovered all three vehicles and arrested their occupants the next morning. The defendants face eight counts, including conspiracy to support foreign terrorist organisations and conspiracy to bomb a place of public use; some charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.