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3. U.S. arrests senior Kata’ib Hezbollah commander over plotted international terror campaign

Federal authorities in the United States have announced the arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national identified in a criminal complaint as a senior commander within Kata’ib Hezbollah, a group designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.

Officials say he was arrested overseas, transferred into U.S. custody, and brought to New York, where he appeared before a federal magistrate judge and was ordered detained pending trial.

The announcement was made by senior justice and law enforcement officials, including U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg, FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI New York senior official James C. Barnacle Jr., and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, who described the case as the result of a coordinated international counterterrorism operation.

Global operations 

According to the criminal complaint, Al-Saadi is alleged to have operated as a commander within Kata’ib Hezbollah while coordinating with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its external operations apparatus. Prosecutors say he was involved in directing and encouraging a series of violent incidents attributed to affiliated networks across Europe and Canada, including an explosive attack on an American financial institution in Amsterdam, an arson attack on a synagogue in North Macedonia, and a stabbing attack in London that seriously injured two men, including a dual U.S.-British citizen.

Authorities further allege that he used social media and affiliated propaganda channels to publicize these incidents and promote further violence, framing them as part of a broader campaign targeting U.S., Israeli, and Jewish interests.

Attempts to target the United States

The complaint also alleges that Al-Saadi attempted to extend operations into the United States by communicating with an individual he believed could carry out attacks but who was in fact an undercover law enforcement officer. During these exchanges, he allegedly provided maps and surveillance details of Jewish and community institutions in New York, Los Angeles, and Arizona, and discussed methods of attack including explosives and arson, although no attacks ultimately occurred on U.S. soil.

Al-Saadi now faces multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, and attempted use of explosives and arson-related offenses. Prosecutors say the case remains at the indictment stage and that Al-Saadi is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.