Baqer Al-Saadi accused of directing attacks from prison
Shafaq News- London
Iraqi-Iranian national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi allegedly continued coordinating attacks from prison through coded phone calls, while directing transfers worth more than $1 million and overseeing the release of propaganda videos, according to US Justice Department documents obtained by British newspaper The Times.
Al-Saadi, 32, was indicted in New York in May on eight terrorism-related charges over his alleged activities on behalf of Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both designated by the United States as terrorist organizations.
At the time, Kataib Hezbollah denied any affiliation with him, identifying Al-Saadi instead as “a supporter of the resistance” who would “return to his homeland with dignity.”
The Times also linked Al-Saadi to the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right, known as Harakat Ashab Al-Yamin Al-Islamiya, an alleged front for Iran-backed militant groups, which has been accused of arson attacks against Jewish sites in London and synagogues elsewhere in Europe. Other reported targets included a synagogue in New York City and Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.
US investigators believe Al-Saadi used prison calls to instruct associates involved in further plots, arrange financial transactions, and circulate propaganda, the report said.
During a FaceTime call with a woman believed to be his mother, Al-Saadi reportedly encouraged others to continue the attacks, saying, “We shall not care whether we fall upon death or death falls upon us as long as we are on the path of truth,” in a recording that later circulated on social media and attracted approximately 100,000 views.
In another exchange with family members, the newspaper said, Al-Saadi asked about a senior Kataib Hezbollah member and discussed work for another man believed by investigators to be an IRGC operative. The FBI also cut short a separate call after references to a gun and a financial transaction.
The newspaper also cited concerns among US officials that he could recruit others to carry out attacks similar to those reported in Europe.
Transferred from Turkiye to the United States, Al-Saadi remains detained without bail at a federal facility in New York, awaiting trial next summer on charges that could carry a life sentence if convicted. His defense team rejects the allegations, calling the case a “politically motivated prosecution” and contesting his detention conditions, including near-total isolation and severe limits on family contact.
Attorneys from the Federal Defenders of New York argue that the restrictions violate his constitutional rights and the Third Geneva Convention. They have vowed to challenge what they characterize as “inhumane” treatment, saying that the measures are based on speculation and misinterpreted information rather than substantiated evidence.
