The Justice Department announced Friday the arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi national and senior commander within Kata’ib Hizballah — a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Al-Saadi was charged with six counts of terrorism-related offenses, transferred into U.S. custody overseas, and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court, where he was ordered detained pending trial.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday, Al-Saadi is accused of orchestrating or directing nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks spanning Europe, Canada, and the United States — including a campaign of bombings, arson, and stabbings targeting American institutions and Jewish communities.

“Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.” — U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, Southern District of New York

The European Terror Campaign

The complaint alleges that beginning on March 9, 2026, Al-Saadi and his associates — operating under the banner of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, a component of Kata’ib Hizballah — launched a systematic series of attacks across Europe targeting American and Israeli interests. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly posted a message on social media calling on “warriors of Islam” to engage in “jihad,” or violent holy war.

The attacks that followed included an explosion targeting the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam, Netherlands on March 15, 2026. Al-Saadi allegedly posted a propaganda video the very next day claiming responsibility and warning European nations to “immediately distance yourselves from all American and Zionist interests.” A string of similar attacks — bombings, arson, and assaults — continued through April 2026, each accompanied by videos published by Al-Saadi claiming credit for the violence.

On April 12, 2026, an arson attack was carried out against a synagogue in Skopje, North Macedonia. Al-Saadi allegedly posted footage of the burning synagogue four days later, overlaid with a red target symbol and the logo of his organization. Then, on April 29, 2026, two Jewish men — including a dual U.S.-British citizen — were stabbed and seriously injured in London, United Kingdom, in an attack attributed to the same network.

Plots Against American Synagogues

The complaint further alleges that in April and May 2026, Al-Saadi turned his attention to targets within the United States itself. On April 3, 2026, he allegedly communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer — whom he believed could carry out domestic attacks — and transmitted photographs and precise location maps of a prominent New York City synagogue, a Jewish institution in Los Angeles, California, and another in Scottsdale, Arizona.

During a phone call, Al-Saadi allegedly directed the undercover officer to carry out attacks at these locations, asking specifically whether he would use an improvised explosive device or “set the place on fire.” The NYPD confirmed it had disrupted the plot against the Manhattan synagogue and worked closely with the synagogue’s leadership to bolster security during the elevated threat period.

Ties to Soleimani and the IRGC

According to prosecutors, Al-Saadi worked closely with Qasem Soleimani, the longtime commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020, as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, former leader of Kata’ib Hizballah, who perished in the same strike. Social media images cited in the complaint show Al-Saadi with Soleimani at what appears to be a military facility.

Following those killings, Al-Saadi allegedly published imagery depicting the U.S. Capitol in ruins alongside photographs of the two slain leaders, with text reading: “Our revenge for the martyred leaders is ongoing. No negotiations with the occupier.” In February 2026, he allegedly posted a message urging Shiites in Iraq to “kill everyone who supports America and Israel … civil and military targets … kill them everywhere.”

Charges Filed

Al-Saadi was arrested on the charges, transferred into U.S. custody abroad, and transported to the United States. The case is being prosecuted by the Southern District of New York’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, NYPD, FBI Washington Field Office, and interagency partners.

Iraqi Terror Commander Arrested for Plotting Attacks on American Soil, Synagogues, and U.S. Interests Across Europe.

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