Could this one man have been behind terrorist attacks on Jewish communities across Europe?

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi has been linked to Iran-backed terror attacks across Europe. Composite: Guardian Design/NurPhoto/Shutterstock/ Southern District of New York/AP/Reuters View image in fullscreen Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi has been linked to Iran-backed terror attacks across Europe. Composite: Guardian Design/NurPhoto/Shutterstock/ Southern District of New York/AP/Reuters Could this one man have been behind terrorist attacks on Jewish communities across Europe? Legal papers, expert investigations and social media posts tell story of how a 32-year-old Iraqi appeared to run ‘proxy’ campaign On Monday, a slightly dishevelled Iraqi man, shackled and dressed in beige prison overalls, was ushered into a Manhattan courtroom. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, 32, pleaded not guilty to a series of terrorism-related offences, then gestured toward the judge and prosecutors. “I’m a prisoner of war. I’m not a threat,” he told them. “Children and women are being killed by your rockets.” Then, al-Saadi, who faces life behind bars, was led away. The brief hearing was the latest chapter in an extraordinary story that appears far from over. It involves: two powers at war; one of the most high-profile terrorist campaigns in Europe and the UK for many years; a new form of warfare to which western security services have yet to find an answer; teenage petty criminals caught up in geopolitics; Islamist militia in Iraq; and, inevitably for 2026, the disruptive power of social media. The man who brought it all together, investigators say, was al-Saadi. The story begins a week after the joint US-Israeli offensive that started the war with Iran when, in the dead of night, someone posted a series of messages on Telegram and Snapchat that appeared to send secret instructions to terrorist networks in Europe. Calling on the “Shadow Soldiers”, the messages gave “permission to all silent cells for work” and included a code of three letters and nine numbers apparently indicating specific teams or individuals. View image in fullscreen A sketch of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, right, with his lawyer Andrew Dalack in a federal court in Manhattan. Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters Fifty-two hours later, a makeshift bomb exploded outside a synagogue in Liège, Belgium. Then came attacks on a synagogue in Rotterdam and a Jewish school in Amsterdam, where a bomb also targeted a branch of the Bank of New York Mellon. Finally, the violence crossed the Channel. On 23 March, CCTV cameras captured three people setting light to four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in north London. In all, 18 such attacks were launched between early March and the end of April. Most targeted Jewish schools or places of worship, with the UK a particular focus. No one died but the campaign caused great fear in a community already suffering heightened levels of hostility and violence. It also triggered much concern among public and security officials. Responsibility for