{ "story_id": "e604ba58f18d49818cfe08ad7e6771ca", "desk": "bad-news-beat", "revision": 1, "published_at": "2026-11-12T01:30:07.213Z", "content_hash": "2ebd6c6e683b8b15612418d9c59ea99430c61e0d695db013a3c92ec0b5597c39", "hash_basis": "sha256 over `headline\\ndek\\nprose`, plus `\\n` + the canonical citations JSON when any source is placed, plus `\\n#blog` for blogs", "basis": { "headline": "US says a jailed man ran a plot on a British air base", "dek": "Prosecutors say one defendant sent coded messages from US custody. The indictment ties the group to nearly 20 attacks or attempts. Two of the three are not in custody.", "prose": "An eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging three men with terrorism offenses.[^1] The charges were unsealed in a federal court in New York City.[^2]\n\nThe three are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.[^3] They are accused of being operatives supported by Iran.[^4] An indictment is an accusation. None of the three has been convicted of these charges.\n\n## The plot from inside\n\nA plot in September 2026 targeted the RAF Fairford base in the United Kingdom.[^5] Al-Saadi was arrested in May 2026 and placed in US federal custody.[^6] By the dates in the Justice Department's account, he had been held for about four months when the plot took place.\n\nThe indictment says he directed it while in a US prison.[^7] He allegedly sent coded messages from custody to do so.[^8]\n\n## The wider allegation\n\nThe defendants allegedly acted in support of Kata'ib Hizballah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.[^9] The United States designates both as foreign terrorist organizations.[^10]\n\nThe group is linked to nearly 20 terrorist attacks or attempts across Europe and the United States.[^11] The planned targets included Jewish communities as well as the air base.[^12]\n\n## Who is in custody\n\nOnly al-Saadi is in custody.[^13] The other two men named in the indictment are not.", "cited": "[{\"statement\":\"An eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging three men with terrorism offenses.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:0\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Charges were unsealed in a New York City federal court.\",\"source\":\"nbcnews.com\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:6\",\"url\":\"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-attack-uk-rcna608647\"},{\"statement\":\"Charged persons are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:1\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"The three charged men are accused of being Iran-supported operatives.\",\"source\":\"nbcnews.com\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:1\",\"url\":\"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-attack-uk-rcna608647\"},{\"statement\":\"A September 2026 terrorist plot targeted RAF Fairford base in the United Kingdom.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:4\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Al-Saadi was arrested in May 2026 and placed in US federal custody.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:7\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Al-Saadi directed the RAF Fairford plot while in US prison per the indictment.\",\"source\":\"nbcnews.com\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:5\",\"url\":\"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-attack-uk-rcna608647\"},{\"statement\":\"Al-Saadi allegedly sent coded messages from US prison for the RAF Fairford plot.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:5\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Defendants allegedly acted in support of Kata'ib Hizballah and Iran's IRGC.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:2\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Kata'ib Hizballah and IRGC are US designated foreign terrorist organizations.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:6\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"The group is linked to nearly 20 terrorist attacks or attempts across Europe and the US.\",\"source\":\"justice.gov\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:3\",\"url\":\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly-20-terrorist-attacks-and\"},{\"statement\":\"Planned attack targets included Jewish communities and RAF Fairford air base.\",\"source\":\"nbcnews.com\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:2\",\"url\":\"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-attack-uk-rcna608647\"},{\"statement\":\"Only Mohammad Al-Saadi is in custody of the three charged men.\",\"source\":\"nbcnews.com\",\"instrument\":\"\",\"claim_key\":\"doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:4\",\"url\":\"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/united-kingdom/us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-attack-uk-rcna608647\"}]", "kind": "news" }, "receipt_verify": "Ed25519 over the dot-joined string `slice_hash.cursor_from.cursor_to.view.view_version.row_count`; public_key and sig are base64url of the raw 32-byte key / 64-byte signature", "receipt": { "slice_hash": "0c614a8a3ebe90e7f1c42b4718fd0ed2a1f371a47237843249dfcd2d80d368f4", "cursor_from": "ingest:raw_newsroomfloor.stories:0c614a8a3ebe90e7", "cursor_to": "ingest:raw_newsroomfloor.stories:0c614a8a3ebe90e7", "view": "ingest:raw_newsroomfloor.stories", "view_version": "1", "row_count": 1, "hash_basis": "sha256 over the JSON array of {insertId, json} rows as received (normalized wire shape), computed before the BigQuery forward", "credits": 0.01, "price_per_100_rows_written": 1, "sig": "veeGWPOoTvUtpqSTsBGtJ4SH0hiABPFRFaFPKXxZMYmqqgVz4_AUWnrrPNZ5NyCV0BtTHdlfmF2byqvSsV4qBQ", "public_key": "bMUigy8O0jOnBxQ4Sc-5lwhIZ8LQVAhxMbR7qESVuUE", "signer_path": "lakehouse/data-extract/v1", "alg": "Ed25519", "signed": true }, "receipt_note": "the ingest door's signed receipt for this revision, verbatim as the door returned it", "generation_chain": { "art": { "model": "mordiem:flux-2-max", "provider": "mordiem", "requested": "flux-2-max", "director": "@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast", "scene": "A dimly lit, empty visitation room in a US prison, with a single, narrow table and two chairs, a small, barred window high on the wall, and a phone on the table with a cord stretched taut, as if recently used, the only ember-orange accent from a warning light on the phone, casting deep shadows on the cold, grey walls.", "style": "custom: a severe monochrome documentary photograph in the manner of an incident report, hard directional light and deep shadow, near-black and bone white with a single ember-orange accent in one object or light, the physical evidence of what went wrong at close range, machinery, paper, a closed door, a wet street, a courthouse step, no faces of real people, no gore, no flames for drama, precise, still, forensic, high contrast film grain, no text", "caption": "Jailed man accused of directing plot from US custody", "painted_at": "2026-11-12T01:31:20.798Z", "image_hash": "3d712a6b32ec04cb17aaea0f591397e83068fbda2fc3fd5bd60b0d05f7c937dc" } }, "cited_facts": [ { "n": 1, "statement": "An eight-count superseding indictment was unsealed charging three men with terrorism offenses.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:0", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 2, "statement": "Charges were unsealed in a New York City federal court.", "source": "nbcnews.com", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:6", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 3, "statement": "Charged persons are Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, Mohsen Mohajeri, Mohammad Ali al-Hassani.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:1", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 4, "statement": "The three charged men are accused of being Iran-supported operatives.", "source": "nbcnews.com", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:1", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 5, "statement": "A September 2026 terrorist plot targeted RAF Fairford base in the United Kingdom.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:4", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 6, "statement": "Al-Saadi was arrested in May 2026 and placed in US federal custody.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:7", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 7, "statement": "Al-Saadi directed the RAF Fairford plot while in US prison per the indictment.", "source": "nbcnews.com", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:5", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 8, "statement": "Al-Saadi allegedly sent coded messages from US prison for the RAF Fairford plot.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:5", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 9, "statement": "Defendants allegedly acted in support of Kata'ib Hizballah and Iran's IRGC.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:2", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 10, "statement": "Kata'ib Hizballah and IRGC are US designated foreign terrorist organizations.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:6", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 11, "statement": "The group is linked to nearly 20 terrorist attacks or attempts across Europe and the US.", "source": "justice.gov", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:three-iranian-backed-operatives-indicted-their-roles-nearly--109907:3", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 12, "statement": "Planned attack targets included Jewish communities and RAF Fairford air base.", "source": "nbcnews.com", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:2", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null }, { "n": 13, "statement": "Only Mohammad Al-Saadi is in custody of the three charged men.", "source": "nbcnews.com", "instrument": "", "claim_key": "doc:us-charges-3-men-plotting-multiple-terrorist-attacks-planned-558425:4", "occurred_at": null, "published_at": null } ], "note": "A signature proves who filed this and that it has not changed since. It never makes a claim true. The dates on cited_facts (occurred_at, published_at) are the forge's, joined at read time; they are not part of the signed basis above." }