Terrorist group who masterminded UK attacks 'run by senior Iranian spymaster'

A terror group that claimed to be behind the multiple attacks against the Jewish community in London has been outed as a proxy of the Iranian state. US authorities assessed how Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (Hayi) was allegedly operated by a senior Iranian operative.

The group is thought to be behind nearly 20 attacks across Europe in less than three months, The Times reports. According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), it was a front designed to further the attacks of Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Kata’ib Hezbollah, a proxy of the IRGC that operates in Iraq. A complaint filed to initiate criminal charges details how Hayi created its own logo and issued its own founding statement to portray itself as independent.

However, its founding statement was broadcast on media channels used by the IRGC, Hezbollah and Kata’ib Hezbollah to disseminate propaganda and information, while its logo was “strikingly similar” to Hezbollah’s.

The complaint also outlined a series of terrorism charges against Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, an Iraqi national, according to The Times. The alleged commander in Kata’ib Hezbollah is accused of plotting an attack on a New York synagogue and Jewish institutions in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, prosecutors said.

There were 18 reported terrorist attacks in Europe against US and Israeli interests, with the complaint alleging al-Saadi was involved in their planning and execution.

According to the DoJ, they “appear to have been carried out both in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s recent military actions against Iran and to compel the United States and Israel to halt those actions”.

The DoJ also claimed that al-Saadi used the front of Hayi to carry out the attacks.

They include the March arson attack in Golders Green on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity Hatzola.

Al-Saadi and associates are also reportedly linked to the stabbing of two Jewish people in the same area in April, for which a suspect has been charged.

The DoJ document did not provide any further detail of the alleged links.