US charges 3 ‘Iranian-backed’ men over alleged plot at UK Fairford air base

What the report says

US prosecutors have charged three men they describe as Iranian-backed operatives over an alleged plot involving RAF Fairford in southwest England, a Royal Air Force base used by US forces. According to Al Jazeera, the Justice Department said the men were linked to nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks in the US and Europe, and that the Fairford case is part of a broader set of terrorism-related allegations tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah.

The men named are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani. Al-Saadi is already in custody in New York, while the article says prosecutors did not disclose the location of the other two. The charging document says the alleged Fairford plan involved vans, fuel barrels and other materials intended to disguise the vehicles as delivery trucks and create shrapnel effects. Prosecutors also say coded communications were used to coordinate the operation.

The case follows a September incident at Fairford, when police were called after a farmer reported suspicious activity involving several white vans. Six men were arrested, later released on bail, and two were re-arrested and charged in the UK under national security laws. Iran has denied involvement, and the article says the US withdrew B-1 bombers from Fairford days later.

Al Jazeera also reports that US officials say the alleged activity targeted Jewish communities and military sites in Europe and the United States. More broadly, the case highlights continuing tensions between the US and Iran and the security concerns surrounding American military assets in the UK.