US charges three ‘Iranian operatives’ over RAF Fairford terror plot

The US Justice Department has charged three men over an alleged plot at RAF Fairford, a British airbase used by the US military. Prosecutors say the men helped organise suspicious activity there in September, and the case matters because it links the incident to alleged efforts supporting Iran-backed groups.

The indictment alleges that Mohammad Ali al-Hassani directed people to take white vans, some carrying fuel barrels, to the base and paid for metallic objects that could be used as shrapnel. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, already in US custody, allegedly used coded messages to coordinate with al-Hassani and Mohsen Mohajeri. The three face charges including providing material support to terrorist groups and conspiring to bomb a place of public use; prosecutors have not disclosed the whereabouts of al-Hassani or Mohajeri. Days after the incident, the US withdrew its B-1 bombers from Fairford.