Federal authorities arrested an Iraqi national and charged him with coordinating a wave of terrorist attacks across Europe and Canada and attempting to bring similar violence to the United States, including a plot against a prominent Manhattan synagogue.
The Department of Justice announced on Friday that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, was charged with six terrorism-related offenses tied to his alleged work as an operative and commander for Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iran-backed militia designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.
The Justice Department said Al-Saadi was transferred into U.S. custody overseas, brought to the United States, and ordered detained after an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court.
Prosecutors allege Al-Saadi “directed and urged others” to attack U.S. and Israeli interests and to kill Americans and Jews in retaliation for the war in Iran and to advance the goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The complaint accuses him and associates of planning, coordinating, and claiming responsibility for at least 18 attacks in Europe and two additional attacks in Canada under the name Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, described by prosecutors as a component of Kata’ib Hizballah.
The alleged attacks included an explosive attack on a Bank of New York Mellon site in Amsterdam on March 15, an arson attack against a synagogue in Skopje, North Macedonia, on April 12, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in London on April 29. One of the London victims was a dual U.S.-British citizen, according to the Justice Department.
Federal officials said Al-Saadi also tried to coordinate attacks in the United States. They said that on April 3 he communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer he believed could carry out attacks, sending photographs and maps of a Jewish synagogue in New York and two other Jewish institutions in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona.
The man allegedly discussed whether the New York target should be attacked with an improvised explosive device or set on fire. ABC News reported that Al-Saadi allegedly paid $3,000 to the undercover officer while discussing attacks in California, Arizona, and Manhattan. His lawyer, federal defender Andrew Dalack, called the matter “a bit of an unusual case” during Friday’s appearance, according to ABC News. Al-Saadi was ordered detained and is due back in court on May 29.
The Justice Department described Al-Saadi as closely tied to the IRGC and to late Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in Iraq in 2020. Prosecutors said Al-Saadi had posted images with Soleimani and had called for attacks against Americans in retaliation for Soleimani’s death.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the case showed U.S. law enforcement would use “all tools to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations and their leaders.” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said authorities disrupted a plot against a Manhattan synagogue and worked with the synagogue’s leadership after the threat level rose.
Al-Saadi faces charges including conspiracy to provide material support to Kata’ib Hizballah, conspiracy to provide material support to the IRGC, providing material support for acts of terrorism, conspiracy to bomb a place of public use, and attempted destruction of property by fire or explosive. The most serious charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, the charges are still accusations and have not been proven in court.
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