An updated indictment released by the US Department of Justice on Tuesday has named Mohammed Ali al-Hassani as allegedly orchestrating the September incident at RAF Fairford. Al-Hassani, a 35-year-old Iraqi who reportedly lived in Britain, is believed to be in Iran.
The indictment states that al-Hassani is accused of using contacts and associates to carry out terrorist attacks in the UK. He is also described as one of two associates of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who was arrested in Turkey in May and extradited to the US.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated in mid-October that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was "almost certainly" behind the Fairford incident. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood added that it was "highly likely to have been coordinated by a known individual based in Iran, and almost certainly directed by Iran’s IRGC."
Two Britons from London were charged by UK police last month, accused of assisting Iranian intelligence in breach of the 2023 National Security Act. They await trial and are yet to plead. Westminster magistrates court heard last month that the men in vans had been directed to drive to Fairford by a handler called Ali.