U.S. authorities have unveiled sweeping terrorism charges against an alleged senior commander of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataeb Hezbollah, accusing him of involvement in plots targeting Jewish and American interests in Europe, Canada, and the United States.
Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, is accused of encouraging and directing attacks in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran. According to court filings, prosecutors allege he and unidentified associates planned, coordinated, or claimed responsibility for at least 18 attacks across Europe and two in Canada, including stabbings, arson attacks on synagogues, Israeli businesses, and Jewish schools, and a shooting near the U.S. consulate in Toronto.
Examples cited by prosecutors include the April 29 stabbing of two Jewish men in London and arson attacks in Amsterdam, Munich, and elsewhere. Authorities believe the Canadian incidents included the March 10 shooting at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, in which nobody was injured.
Court filings state that some of the attacks appeared intended both as retaliation for recent U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran and as pressure to force Washington and Jerusalem to halt those operations.
Al-Saadi’s exact role in the overseas attacks remains unclear, though prosecutors allege he posted propaganda videos online claiming responsibility for some incidents. In a recorded phone call cited in court documents, he allegedly told an FBI informant that he or his associates had been involved in attacks in Europe and Canada.
U.S. investigators also allege that Al-Saadi discussed plans for attacks inside the United States, including against a synagogue in New York and Jewish centres in California and Arizona. Prosecutors say he paid a $3,000 advance to an undercover FBI operative for a planned New York attack before an arrest warrant was issued.
FBI Director Kash Patel described Al-Saadi as a “high-value target responsible for mass global terrorism.”
Al-Saadi appeared in a Manhattan court on Friday facing six criminal charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to Kataeb Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Kataeb Hezbollah is part of a network of pro-Iran militias in Iraq, long accused by Washington of carrying out attacks on U.S. interests in the Middle East. U.S. officials have linked the group to attacks on American personnel in Iraq and to the March 2026 kidnapping of American journalist Shelly Kittleson during the height of the Iran-Israel conflict.
Western intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing threat against Jewish and Israeli-linked targets abroad since fighting between Iran, Israel and the United States escalated earlier this year.
