Iranian suspects accused of plotting attacks in the US and Europe were filmed studying a map of London as they planned a campaign to “focus” on the UK capital, documents released by US authorities allege.
Three men have been charged with orchestrating terrorist attacks, including at the RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire in September, which was housing US military aircraft and personnel.
The US Justice Department unsealed an eight-count indictment on Tuesday charging Mohammad Al Saadi, 32, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, Mohsen Mohajeri, 48, an Iranian national, and Mohammad Ali Al Hassani, 35, an Iraqi national, with terrorism-related offences.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the activity at Fairford was likely to have been co-ordinated by Iran.
The indictment contains detailed allegations of how Mr Al Saadi directed the RAF Fairford plot from a New York prison, using coded messages sent via his family.
He is being held after being charged in connection with allegedly orchestrating a series of attacks on Jewish and Iranian opposition targets in Europe and the US.
The new charges allege that all three men were involved in those attacks and in a terrorist plot to attack RAF Fairford.
The attacks on synagogues and other Jewish targets were carried out in the name Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamia, also known as Ashab Al Yamin, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand.
The Justice Department has released an image of what is alleged to be Mr Mohajeri and Mr Al Hassani planning attacks from a room in Iraq with a map of London showing on a computer screen. In a video of that meeting, the pair said they “need to get focused on London”. Six days later the first attack took place.
US prosecutors allege that even after Mr Al Saadi was arrested in Turkey in May, the three continued to hatch terrorist plots, with Mr Mohajeri and Mr Al Hassani focused on RAF Fairford.
The indictment alleges that on August 26, Mr Al Hassani paid an unnamed individual to carry out surveillance of the base and send him videos of the surrounding area. Then in September, he tasked and paid several people to help him prepare for the plot.
This included procuring vans and barrels of fuel, researching how to buy chemical accelerants, including large quantities of potassium chloride, and metallic objects that could be used as explosive shrapnel, it claims.
The conspirators attached logos to the vans to create the appearance that they were used by a fuel delivery business and a swimming pool supply company, it added.
Mr Al Hassani allegedly tasked individuals with driving three vans, some of which were later found to contain barrels of fuel, to RAF Fairford on September 26.
As the plot swung into motion, Mr Al Hassani was in frequent communication with the van drivers, helping to co-ordinate their movements and telling them where to drive, it is alleged.
Mr Al Hassani was in direct communication with two vans heading to the perimeter of the base, before and after they encountered a security checkpoint. In the early hours of the following day, the three vans were seized.
The Justice Department alleges Mr Al Saadi used calls with his family in Iraq to pass coded messages to Mr Al Hassani and Mr Mohajeri in the days before the RAF Fairford plot. During the calls, they referred to Mr Mohajeri by aliases including Abbas, Abu Daniel and Sayyid Abbas.
Mr Al Saadi also allegedly told family members that he owed money to Mr Mohajeri and directed them to pass messages to him about “work”.
It is alleged this is a term Mr Al Saadi regularly used to describe terrorist activity, including on social media posts and in discussions with Mr Mohajeri about partnering to conduct attacks.
Around September 24, Mr Al Saadi once again spoke with his immediate family and allegedly asked about how Mr Al Hassani, whom he referred to as Ali, was doing. His family replied that Ali had been transferred to the “International Section” and Mr Al Saadi then allegedly instructed his family to “give him money so we can do it”.
US prosecutors have previously said Ashab Al Yamin is a front for Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, which they say Mr Al Saadi is a member of, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Investigators looking at his social media accounts allegedly found FaceTime calls he had with the London attackers, including some who carried out a firebombing of a London synagogue on April 18.
Mr Al Hassani is also alleged to have had a video call with someone carrying out an attack on a synagogue in London, with the Ashab Al Yamin logo projected in the background of his screen. During the video call, he is accused of directing the individual to “light it up like a Christmas tree”.
Two men have appeared in court charged under the UK's National Security Act following the incident at RAF Fairford. Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, while Nouman Essghir, 24, was charged with one offence of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK.
Mr Essghir has been remanded in custody, while Mr Abdulkarim has been granted bail with conditions including the surrender of his passport. The case will be next heard at the Old Bailey on 20 November.
