Federal prosecutors on Monday announced the arrest of a senior commander of Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization, charging him with six terrorism-related counts for his role in directing nearly 20 attacks across Europe, the United States, and Canada.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, an Iraqi national, was transferred into U.S. custody overseas and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court, where he was ordered held pending trial, the Justice Department said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Al-Saadi “directed and urged others to attack U.S. and Israeli interests and to kill Americans and Jews in the U.S. and abroad.” Blanche called the charges evidence that American law enforcement “will never let such evil go unchecked.”
Al-Saadi faces charges including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to bomb a place of public use. The latter charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Prosecutors allege Al-Saadi worked closely with Qasem Soleimani, longtime commander of the IRGC’s external operations force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kata’ib Hizballah. Both were killed in a U.S. airstrike in January 2020. After their deaths, according to the complaint, Al-Saadi publicly called on followers to attack and kill Americans in retaliation.
Over a three-month span beginning in March 2026, Al-Saadi and associates allegedly planned, coordinated, and claimed responsibility for at least 18 terrorist attacks across Europe under the banner of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, a component of Kata’ib Hizballah. Two additional attacks were carried out in Canada during the same period.
Among the alleged attacks: an explosives attack against Bank of New York Mellon’s offices in Amsterdam in March 2026, an arson attack at a synagogue in Skopje, North Macedonia, in April 2026, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in London on April 29, 2026. One of the London victims held dual U.S.-British citizenship.
In the United States, Al-Saadi allegedly directed an undercover law enforcement officer he believed capable of carrying out attacks. Prosecutors say he instructed the officer to target a prominent synagogue in Manhattan, a Jewish institution in Los Angeles, and a Jewish institution in Scottsdale, Arizona. Al-Saadi texted the officer photographs and maps of each location and discussed whether to use an improvised explosive device or set the New York synagogue ablaze. No attacks were carried out on U.S. soil.
Kata’ib Hizballah has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States. The group operates as part of Iran’s broader network of regional proxies and has been linked to attacks on American military personnel in the Middle East.
