World
Photos from a criminal complaint show Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi (right) with Qassem Soleimani, the former IRGC commander who was killed in a US airstrike in 2020. Photographs: Southern District of New York
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US authorities announced the arrest of an Iraqi national identified as a senior commander in Kata'ib Hezbollah, accusing him of directing nearly 20 attacks across Europe and plotting additional attacks in the United States.
Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in a post on X late Friday that FBI personnel had arrested and transferred Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, to the United States, calling him “another high-value target responsible for mass global terrorism.”
Patel wrote, “Al-Saadi and his associates allegedly planned, coordinated, and claimed responsibility for at least 20 terrorist attacks across Europe and in Canada," adding that they "were believed to be targeting the United States for upcoming attacks including Jewish institutions in New York, California, and Arizona.”
Saadi's arrest comes amid heightened regional tensions following a wide-scale US-Israeli aerial campaign against Iran launched on February 28, which reportedly struck more than 17,000 sites over six weeks of hostilities. A Pakistan-mediated ceasefire was reached on April 8.
The Islamabad-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting and opened the door to negotiations, though the first round of talks ended without a final agreement on April 11. A second round has yet to take place, and a comprehensive resolution remains elusive.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in New York City, Saadi is accused of acting on behalf of Kata'ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), directing attacks against US and Israeli interests in Europe and North America since February.
Prosecutors alleged that Saadi and his associates coordinated at least 18 attacks in Europe and two in Canada under the name “Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya,” described by authorities as a component of Kata'ib Hezbollah.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said in a statement that Saadi “faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil.”
Patel praised international cooperation in the arrest, writing, “We are greatly appreciative of the work of our allies around the world - especially to Ambassador Tom Barrack, who led this joint sequenced operation and has been instrumental in bringing this successful mission home to the United States.”
The 32-year-old suspect was arrested in Turkey and appeared Friday in Manhattan federal court, where he was ordered detained pending trial. He is scheduled to appear again on May 29.
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