In a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, a man with alleged ties to Iran’s late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared with a defiant expression, proclaiming that “all’s fair in war” as he entered a plea of not guilty to charges of plotting a bombing at a city synagogue.
“I am not a criminal! … Your rockets are killing our children!” exclaimed the 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dadwood al-Saadi during a heated outburst in court.
Al-Saadi, accused of planning an attack on a synagogue in New York City as part of a broader campaign of terror over nearly ten years, insisted, “I’m not guilty! … I’m in a war situation!” according to federal prosecutors.
Authorities describe al-Saadi as a prominent figure within the terror organization Kata’ib Hizballah, which has connections to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard. He is suspected of orchestrating bombings at a Bank of New York in Amsterdam and a synagogue in Belgium, as well as coordinating the stabbings of two Jewish individuals in London.
Federal prosecutors have linked al-Saadi to 16 planned or carried-out attacks on international targets just in March and April of this year.
“Al-Saadi claims affiliation with the ‘resistance,’ which comprises the IRGC, a foreign terror group based in Iran,” stated US Attorney Jay Clayton.
âAll Americans should recognize that we have sworn enemies and when your enemies tell you something and when they act, you should know that they mean it,â Clayton said.
The feds have not identified the âprominentâ synagogue that was targeted but said al-Saadi allegedly paid a person who turned out to be an undercover agent $10,000 to carry out the attack.
He was nabbed in Turkey earlier this month and hauled to Manhattan federal court Monday, where he entered his plea on indictment charges of conspiring to provide material support for terrorist groups, conspiracy to bomb a place of public use and other counts.
Al-Saadi, who is believed to have ties to Hezbollah, is being held in solitary confinement at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
