“Iran Linked Revenge Plot to Kill Ivanka Trump Uncovered Amid Threats Against Trump Family”

WASHINGTON, May 23: US federal prosecutors have accused an Iraqi national allegedly connected to Iran-backed militant organisations of planning attacks against American and Jewish targets across Europe and North America, with reports claiming he also discussed targeting Ivanka Trump as part of a revenge campaign linked to the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

According to court filings and media reports, 32 year old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi was arrested in Turkey on May 15 before being extradited to the United States. He now faces multiple terrorism related charges tied to a series of violent incidents and alleged plots spanning several countries.

The US Department of Justice has linked Al-Saadi to at least 18 attacks and attempted attacks, including incidents involving American institutions and Jewish communities. Prosecutors allege his involvement in the firebombing of a Bank of New York Mellon office in Amsterdam, a shooting near the US consulate building in Toronto, attacks on synagogues in Rotterdam and Liège, and the stabbing of two Jewish victims in London.

A report published by the New York Post, citing unnamed intelligence and security sources, claimed that Al-Saadi had expressed intentions to target Ivanka Trump in retaliation for the US drone strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020.

Entifadh Qanbar, a former deputy military attaché at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, told the newspaper that the suspect repeatedly spoke about seeking revenge against the Trump family after Soleimani’s death.

“After Qasem was killed, he went around telling people that killing Ivanka would symbolically destroy Trump’s family the same way they believed their side had suffered,” Qanbar reportedly said.

The report further alleged that Al-Saadi possessed a map identifying the Florida neighbourhood where Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner own property. Another unnamed source cited in the report reportedly confirmed the existence of discussions surrounding the alleged plot.

Investigators also pointed to social media posts allegedly shared by Al-Saadi, including one image showing the area surrounding the couple’s residence alongside an Arabic-language message threatening Americans. The post reportedly stated that preparations were underway and described revenge as “only a matter of time.”

US prosecutors claim the suspect maintained connections with Kata’ib Hezbollah as well as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), organisations long scrutinised by Washington over militant activities in the region.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute who was abducted in Baghdad in 2023 and later released, told the New York Post that Al-Saadi had remained closely associated with senior Iranian military figures even after Soleimani’s death.

Federal court documents reportedly include photographs and social media images allegedly showing the suspect alongside armed fighters, missiles and prominent Iranian commanders. One image cited in the filings allegedly showed Al-Saadi meeting Soleimani at what authorities described as a military installation.

In another social media message from 2020 referenced in the court papers, Al-Saadi allegedly wrote that he would abandon communication devices and social media “until the American enemy is defeated,” while also referring to “victory or martyrdom.”

Prosecutors further alleged that the suspect later resumed online activity and continued issuing threats, including direct messages to intended targets accompanied by images of a silenced handgun.

The case is expected to intensify concerns in Washington over the activities of Iran-linked militant networks operating beyond the Middle East and their potential reach into Europe and North America.