US charges 3 alleged Iranian operatives over plots targeting Jewish communities and a UK airbase

US authorities charged three men on Tuesday over allegedly plotting a "campaign of terror,"  claiming that the trio had planned nearly 20 attacks against Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford airbase.

The British base was used by the US for attacks against Iran. It came under the spotlight in late September, when UK authorities detained several men over a "major incident" near the military compound.

The officials had received information about suspicious vehicles nearing the base and responded by setting up a safety zone and evacuating homes in the area, as well as by dispatching strong security forces and a bomb disposal unit. Five people were arrested.

The US has since withdrew its bombers from the base.

One of the defendants charged on Friday allegedly helped coordinate the Fairford incident from a US jail.

What do US prosecutors allege?

An updated indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court charged an Iranian-Iraqi dual national, an Iranian national and an Iraqi national. Only the dual national is in custody.

"These defendants helped orchestrate a campaign of terror on behalf of terrorist organizations affiliated with Iran," US Attorney Jamie McDonald said.

Prosecutors claim the dual national used coded messages to relatives from jail to arrange payments to people who could carry out attacks. He allegedly continued coordinating with his co-defendants in the days before the Fairford incident.

The indictment said the men used a network of contacts in Britain to plan attacks on behalf of an Iran-aligned network that included Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi armed group Kata'ib Hizballah. Both are designated foreign terrorist organizations by the US.

Suspect says he is a 'prisoner of war'

Prosecutors described the defendant held in the US as a Kata'ib Hizballah commander.

Arrested in the spring, the suspect pleaded not guilty in June to charges of plotting at least 18 attacks in Europe in retaliation for the US and Israeli war with Iran.

He called himself a "prisoner of war." 

British authorities had also linked the alleged Fairford plot to Tehran, which denied involvement. .

All the Ayatollah's men — ensuring the regime's survival

UK prosecutors  alsoseparately charged two men, both 24, under the National Security Act in October. One is accused of assisting Iran's intelligence service and was granted conditional bail. The other faces a charge of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK, relating to an alleged reconnaissance visit to Fairford in August. He was remanded in custody.