US prosecutors have charged three individuals described as Iran-backed operatives over their alleged involvement in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across the United States and Europe. The alleged operations include a plot targeting the British RAF Fairford airbase, A2CNN reports.
The US Department of Justice said on Tuesday that the three individuals were acting in support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iraqi militant group Kataib Hezbollah.
They were identified as Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani. All three face charges related to terrorism-related offences.
Al-Saadi is currently being held in a prison in New York. Prosecutors have not disclosed the whereabouts of Mohajeri and al-Hassani.
The charges announced on Tuesday are primarily linked to RAF Fairford, an airbase in southwest England where US forces and bombers have been deployed. The United States used the base to station bombers during its war against Iran.
Police were called to the Fairford area in September after a local farmer reported seeing a group of men with several white vans allegedly engaging in suspicious activities.
Seven people were arrested in connection with the incident, but all were subsequently released on bail. Two of them were later arrested again on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence services and charged under Britain’s National Security Act.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the incident.
