A member of an Iran-backed militia plotted to attack the RAF Fairford air base in Britain while detained in the US on criminal charges, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday.

• Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi attempted to pass coded messages to two other alleged Iran-backed operatives through phone calls to immediate family members from jail in New York, prosecutors said.

• Al-Saadi had previously pleaded not guilty to eight criminal counts including conspiracy to provide material support to Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia the US considers a terrorist organization.

• A lawyer for Al-Saadi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in October that a suspected plot targeting the base, which had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran, was “highly likely” to have been coordinated in Iran.

• Iran has denied any role in the suspected plot.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)