A pro-Iran Iraqi militia official indicted on charges of directing a series of terrorist attacks targeting Jewish facilities in the United States and Europe also allegedly put Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, on an assassination list.
The New York Post reported on the 22nd, citing multiple sources, that Mohammad Baqir Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, 32, a commander in the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, said he would kill Ivanka and even obtained materials detailing the location and layout of her Florida home.
Al-Saadi's motive was identified as retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Soleimani was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, in January 2020 by a U.S. drone strike. Al-Saadi is said to have since pursued a plan for revenge targeting the Trump family.
Entifadh Qanbar, a former deputy attaché at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, told the New York Post, "After Soleimani's death, Al-Saadi went around saying, 'Just as Trump burned our house, we must kill Ivanka and burn Trump's house as well.'" Al-Saadi reportedly posted a satellite map of the area near Ivanka's home on his social media (SNS) and left Arabic threats targeting Americans and the U.S. Secret Service (SS).
Ivanka converted to Judaism in 2009 when she married real estate developer Jared Kushner. She served as a senior White House adviser in Trump's first administration. The Kushners currently own a home in Florida worth about $24 million (about 3.3 billion won).
Al-Saadi is known as a key figure linked to both the IRGC and Kataib Hezbollah. According to the U.S. Department of Justice indictment, Al-Saadi had been active with Kataib Hezbollah since around 2017 and worked closely with the IRGC. He regarded Soleimani as a close patron and reportedly maintained ties with Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's successor.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Al-Saadi is accused of involvement in at least 18 attacks and attempted attacks this year in the United States, Canada and Europe. The indictment includes the attack on the BNY Mellon building in Amsterdam, an attempted attack on the Bank of America building in Paris, attempted attacks on Jewish facilities in the United States, and a knife attack in London.
Al-Saadi was arrested in Türkiye on the 15th and transferred to the United States. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged him with providing support to a terrorist organization, providing support for terrorist acts, conspiring to bomb public places, and conspiring to use explosives. According to Al Jazeera and AP, Al-Saadi appeared in federal court in Manhattan but has not yet entered a plea.
He is reportedly being held in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. At the time of his arrest, he was carrying an official passport issued to Iraqi government officials, and the passport is known to be difficult to obtain without the Iraqi prime minister's approval.