Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi national linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Kata'ib Hezbollah militia, was arrested in Turkey on May 15, 2026, and extradited to the United States to face charges related to terrorism and assassination plots [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Al-Saadi is accused of masterminding or participating in 18 attacks and attempted attacks targeting Jewish sites and other locations in Europe and the US [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. One of the alleged plots involved an assassination attempt on Ivanka Trump, reportedly in retaliation for the 2020 US drone strike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
After Soleimani’s death, Al-Saadi publicly vowed revenge against Ivanka Trump, stating that "we need to kill Ivanka to burn down the house of Trump the way he burned down our house," according to Entifadh Qanbar, former Iraqi embassy deputy military attaché [6, 10]. Al-Saadi posted threatening messages and photos on social media including X (formerly Twitter), sharing blueprints of Ivanka Trump's Florida residence valued at around $24 million USD [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Al-Saadi reportedly received training from the IRGC from a young age and maintained close ties with Soleimani, whom he viewed as a father figure [7, 9, 10]. He held a special Iraqi government passport allowing him to travel with minimal scrutiny and had been heading to Russia when arrested during transit in Turkey [2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10].
The US Department of Justice has charged Al-Saadi with the attacks and plots [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The White House declined to comment on the alleged assassination plot against Ivanka Trump, who converted to Orthodox Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner in 2009 [1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Al-Saadi’s arrest came more than six years after the January 2020 drone strike that killed Soleimani and sparked vows of revenge from IRGC-linked operatives [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
