Context:

A Iraqi national linked to Kata’ib Hizballah is accused of planning to kill Ivanka Trump in retaliation for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, including allegedly obtaining drawings of her Florida home and posting a map of her neighborhood with threats. He faces six terrorism counts tied to about 20 plots in the U.S. and Europe, with prosecutors connecting him to attacks on Jewish sites and offering an undercover informant $10,000 to carry them out. The case underscores alleged overseas networks and signals that federal authorities will pursue Americans-targeting plots vigorously. The suspect remains jailed in Manhattan pending trial as investigators detail his ties to Iran’s Quds Force.

Dive Deeper:

• Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi national and senior Kata’ib Hizballah figure, is charged with six terrorism counts tied to roughly 20 plots across the U.S. and Europe, according to a Justice Department release.

• According to Entifadh Qanbar, a former Iraqi embassy deputy military attaché, Al-Saadi bragged after the 2020 strike that they needed to kill Ivanka Trump to ‘burn down the house’ of Trump, and reportedly reviewed drawings of her Florida home as part of the plan.

• The New York Post reviewed an X post by Al-Saadi that included a map of Ivanka and Jared Kushner’s Florida neighborhood paired with threats that heavy security would not shield the family, suggesting specific targeting intent.

• Authorities linked him to broader plots against Jewish sites in the U.S., including a planned attack on a New York City synagogue and Jewish community centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, with an undercover informant offered $10,000 to execute the attacks.

• TIME Magazine notes he ran a Kata’ib Hizballah front group active across Europe, indicating a transnational footprint connected through Iran’s Quds Force, with Al-Saadi’s path reportedly facilitated by IRGC training and a travel network.

• Turkish authorities initially arrested him on May 15 and handed him over to U.S. agents; Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the case as a warning that Americans targeted on U.S. soil face federal prosecution, while FBI officials credited joint efforts for the capture.

• Al-Saadi remains detained in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as the case proceeds in Manhattan federal court.