Three Iran-backed suspects plotted attacks including RAF Fairford incident, US says

Key Points:

• The US Department of Justice has charged three Iran-backed operatives with involvement in a series of terrorist plots in the US and Europe, including a recent incident near RAF Fairford, a UK air force base hosting US forces.
• The accused—Mohsen Mohajeri, Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, and Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi—are alleged to have coordinated attacks under the group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), responsible for 18 attacks in Europe during spring 2026, including arsons, explosives, and a near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London.
• The DOJ detailed that al-Hassani orchestrated the RAF Fairford plot by directing payments for surveillance, procuring vans disguised as commercial vehicles, and obtaining fuel and materials potentially for explosives; the plot was foiled when police intercepted suspicious vans near the base on 27 September.
• FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the determination of Iran to conduct terrorist attacks in the West, noting that one suspect communicated coded messages from prison to facilitate future violence, and linked the operatives to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.
• Iran has denied any involvement in the RAF Fairford incident, calling the allegations baseless, while the US withdrew its bombers from the base following the threat; several arrests have been made in the UK related to the case, with trials pending.