Iraqi Militia Commander Brought to US to Face Charges

A militia commander long linked to Iran's power projection in the Middle East is now accused of trying to take the fight directly to the US. Federal prosecutors on Friday unsealed charges against Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, calling him a senior Kataib Hezbollah figure who allegedly plotted attacks on Jewish targets in the US, including a New York City synagogue, and "has directed and urged others to attack US and Israeli interests, including by killing Americans and Jews," the New York Times reports.

• Al-Saadi did not speak during an appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Friday, the AP reports. His lawyer said he was a political prisoner and a prisoner of war. The lawyer said Al-Saadi, who is being held in the federal jail in Brooklyn, was captured in Turkey and turned over to US authorities.

• The complaint says Al-Saadi oversaw or claimed responsibility for at least 18 attacks in Europe and two in Canada since late February in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks on Iran. He's described as a high-ranking operative with close ties to Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, both killed in a 2020 US drone strike.
• According to the complaint, the attacks linked to Al-Saadi include the stabbing of two people in London and the firebombing of a Bank of New York Mellon building in Amsterdam, ABC News reports. He is also allegedly linked to a March shooting at the US consulate in Toronto.
• Prosecutors say he pledged thousands of dollars to an undercover officer he thought would attack a New York City synagogue. Prosecutors say he also provided the undercover officer with maps of Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona that he planned to target.
• Kataib Hezbollah, formed after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and now part of Iraq's security structure, is designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization and is closely aligned with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to US officials.