Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi this month with terrorism offenses tied to an alleged campaign of nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and North America.
- Al-Saadi was arrested in Turkey and transferred to U.S. custody on May 15, and he is now held in solitary at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending further proceedings.
- Multiple news outlets, citing the New York Post and named sources, reported that Al-Saadi pledged to kill Ivanka Trump and possessed a blueprint and a social-media map of her Florida neighborhood, but those specific targeting claims do not appear in public DOJ filings.
- The U.S. Secret Service declined to confirm protective-intelligence details and federal officials say investigators continue to pursue leads and have increased security around Jewish sites and other potential targets.
- Prosecutors and reporting link Al-Saadi to the Iran-backed militia Kata'ib Hezbollah and to Iran’s IRGC, framing revenge for the 2020 killing of Qasem Soleimani as a motive and signaling deeper probes of Iran-linked networks and cross-border networks used to plot attacks.