An Iraqi man has been arrested in connection with Iran-backed terror networks orchestrating to assassinate US President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, to avenge the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. The accused man has been planning the assassination since 2020, when a US drone strike in Baghdad killed Soleimani.
The suspect has been identified as 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Dawood Al-Saadi and was captured in Turkey and later extradited to the US.
Entifadh Qanbar, an ex-deputy military attaché at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, told the publication that Al-Saadi had openly spoken about seeking revenge, New York Post report. According to Qanbar, after the killing of Qasem, Saad told people that he would kill Ivanka and "burn down the house of Trump the way he burned down our house."
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Al-Saadi allegedly posted an image on X showing the Florida area where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner own a 24-million-dollar home.
The post read in Arabic, "Neither your palaces nor the Secret Service will protect you," and claimed that surveillance and analysis were already underway.
US authorities claim Al-Saadi is a senior figure within Iraq-Iran terror circles and an operative linked to both Kata’ib Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iraqi National Charged With Multiple Attacks
The US Department of Justice has charged Al-Saadi over 18 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the US.
Authorities accused him of being linked to the firebombing of the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam, the killing of two Jewish victims in London, and a shooting at the US consulate building in Toronto.
Additionally, Saadi is also accused of planning and coordinating attacks against Jewish targets, including the bombing of a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, and the arson of a temple in Rotterdam.
Officials further alleged that he was connected to several failed attacks in the United States linked to the Middle East conflict.
Connections With Soleimani and IRGC
As per Qanbar's statement, Saadi had a close relationship with Soleimani and viewed him as a father figure. Saadi reportedly spent years in Baghdad with his Iraqi mother before being sent to Tehran for training with the Iranian army’s IRGC.
Later, Saadi started a travel agency specialising in religious tours. Following this, he began travelling internationally and connecting with terror cells. When he was arrested in Turkey on May 15, he allegedly possessed an Iraqi service passport usually issued only to government employees and civil servants with approval from Iraq’s prime minister.
Despite being known as a major terror operative, Al-Saadi maintained a visible presence on social media. Posts showed him posing near landmarks including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
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