According to the court papers, he was the mastermind behind a series of firebomb attacks on Jewish targets in London, allegedly directing operations using Apple’s FaceTime app, and photographs included in the indictment appear to show him directing attacks in the UK from the Iraq bunker.
Of the alleged meeting with the late supreme leader, the indictment says: “Saadi was close with [Ali] Khamenei [the supreme leader].
“Approximately three days before the Iranian military conflict began [on February 28] and Khamenei was killed, Saadi met Khamenei in Iran.”
According to The Sunday Times, intelligence officials believe the claims about the meeting appear credible.
Saadi was arrested in Turkey on May 14 after allegedly attempting to recruit an undercover FBI agent, and was subsequently flown to New York, where he has been charged with eight terrorism-related offences.
After being detained, Saadi waived his right to a lawyer and explained details of his role and contacts within the Iranian regime to FBI investigators. Investigators obtained further information from Al-Saadi’s iPhone and social media accounts.
His capture earlier this month followed a spate of attacks on synagogues and Jewish sites in London, including the attack on a Hatzola ambulance in Golders Green.
The Islamist terror group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (Hayi) claimed responsibility for the incidents.
American prosecutors argue that Hayi is a front for the Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Saadi served as a senior commander in the Shia paramilitary and is accused of recruiting criminals around the world to carry out attacks on behalf of Tehran in exchange for thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency.
Investigators have linked Saadi to the Hatzolah attacks, as well as further incidents in April across Europe: an attempted bombing of a pro-Israel group in the Netherlands, flammable materials thrown into an Israeli restaurant in Munich, arson against a synagogue in North Macedonia and two synagogues in London, a drone attack targeting the Israeli embassy in the UK, and the stabbing of two Jewish men in London. Other attacks targeted non-Jewish sites connected to the US.
Hayi claimed responsibility for the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on April 29 - a claim UK counterterror police dispute, believing the statement was “opportunistic” attempt by the group to take credit for the attack. A 45-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.
A still from a Snapchat video shared by Saadi's account stated: 'This is the Final Warning to all the peoples of the world, especially in the European Union, Immediately distance yourselves from all American and Zionist interests, facilities, and what is affiliated with them' (Photo: US Department of Justice)[Missing Credit]
Following the double stabbing, Saadi allegedly instructed one of his associates to post footage of the attack on the group’s social media channels. Later that day, he is said to have told the same associate: “If God grants us success tonight, there will be a shooting at a restaurant.”
The indictment states that a copy of a Hayi “charter”, dated March this year, was found on Saadi’s phone.
The document included the following statement, translated from Arabic: “From today, we declare clearly: the United States, the Israeli Zionist regime and anyone who co-operates with them at any level will not be secure.”
Saadi reportedly said he was “like a son” to Qasem Soleimani, the IRGC commander killed in a US airstrike in 2020.
Outlining a series of retaliatory attacks carried out against civilian targets in March and April, US prosecutors allege: “The defendant participated in FaceTime calls with attackers as they were carrying out certain [sic] of the European terrorist attacks in real time; filmed those attacks as they were being conducted; helped create and disseminate propaganda videos of the attacks; discussed with a Kata’ib Hezbollah member the need to engage in ‘psychological warfare’, and the timing to carry out certain of the attacks.”
Saadi reportedly told US investigators he was a leader of the “resistance” that included the IRGC and its proxies Kata’ib Hezbollah, Hezbollah and the Houthis, and explained that there was “no real distinction between those groups.
On February 28, the day the war began, he allegedly posted in Arabic on Telegram, “Do not abandon the blood of your imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel.”
“Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere,” he said.
In another statement, on X, he said, “Every individual or group capable of killing an American or Zionist target, whether civilian or military, in any country of the world, should begin by targeting them.”
He posted a call on Telegram for “warriors of Islam” to engage in “jihad" and shared images of Hayi-linked attacks, including against synagogues, Jewish schools, the Hatzola ambulances and London’s Israeli embassy, with the group's logo.
Saadi’s US lawyer, Andrew Dalack, has said his client has asked to be treated as “a prisoner of war”.
