The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted three Iranian-backed Operatives for planning almost 20 attacks across the U.S. and Europe, including a terrorist plot at an air force base in Fairford, UK, housing American military officers and equipment.

Unsealed on Tuesday, the indictment listed key suspects Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi (Iraqi-Iranian), Mohsen Mohajeri (Iranian) and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani (Iraqi) as the defendants and alleged masterminds behind the plot.

The indictment said the trio worked for Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. designated as foreign terrorist organisations.

“Anyone who plans a terrorist plot on a military base housing American servicemembers will be prosecuted by the United States government,” attorney general Todd Blanche said.

Despite being in jail and awaiting trial for attempting to bomb a synagogue, Mr Al-Saadi allegedly colluded with his co-conspirators through coded messages to execute terror plots.

Mr Al-Saadi managed to contact Messrs Mohajeri and Al-Hassani to facilitate terror attacks in Europe in 2026 under the pseudonym Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI).

Seven of the attacks, including arson and stabbing of two Jews, were carried out in the UK, which accounted for the highest number of attacks on any European nation.

The U.S. obtained videos of the three men coordinating attacks in Europe via FaceTime and giving orders to a man carrying a lighter “light one in your hand,” “light it,” and “throw the fourth one”.

In another video, the U.S. said Mr Al-Hassani instructed the person at the end of the call to “light it up like a Christmas tree” and watched the person torch a London synagogue with an improvised explosive device.

Mr Al-Saadi was arrested in August and extradited to the U.S. for prosecution.

The U.S. intelligence officials discovered Mr Al-Saadi has been passing coded messages in custody through phone calls with his mother and sister, referencing Mr Mohajeri as “Abbas, Abu Daniel” and “Sayyid Abba”.

He also referred to Mr Al-Hassani as “Ali” and asked his family members for money.

“Give him [al-Hassani] money so we can do it,” Mr Al-Saadi said in the coded message.

Three days after he gave the instruction, Mr Al-Hassani arranged the  Royal Air Force terrorist plot in which three vans loaded with fuel were headed towards the U.S. base.

“Even after one of their co-conspirators was arrested and placed in federal custody, the defendants allegedly continued coordinating terrorist activity through coded communications and a network of associates overseas,” said U.S. attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York. “The threat presented by Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups to America and our allies is not hypothetical — it is very real.”