Suspect in US Custody Following Alleged IRGC-Linked Plot to Assassinate Ivanka Trump

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - An Iraqi national with reported ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been extradited to the United States to face charges involving an alleged plot to assassinate Ivanka Trump. The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, allegedly targeted the daughter of President Donald Trump in a retaliatory effort linked to the 2020 killing of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani.

According to reporting by The New York Post's Isabel Vincent and Andy Tillett on Friday, Al-Saadi is accused of coordinating a sophisticated international attack network that spanned several continents. 

U.S. authorities have charged the suspect in connection with at least 18 attacks or attempted attacks throughout Europe and North America. Following a high-stakes investigation and his recent capture in Turkey, Al-Saadi is currently being held in a high-security federal detention facility in New York.

The investigation into Al-Saadi reportedly revealed a specific and advanced plot targeting Ivanka Trump's private residence in Florida. 

Sources cited in The New York Post report indicated that the suspect had obtained a blueprint or map of the property.

Entifadh Qanbar, a former deputy military attaché at the Iraqi embassy in Washington and current president of the Future Foundation, told the outlet that Al-Saadi had allegedly expressed a desire to "burn down the house of Trump" as a direct response to the drone strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad six years ago.

Evidence of the plot reportedly extended to social media, where Al-Saadi allegedly posted an aerial image of the enclave where Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, reside.

Accompanying the image was a threat in Arabic stating that neither "palaces nor the Secret Service" would provide protection, claiming that the operation had moved into a "stage of surveillance and analysis."

According to court documents and sources cited in the report, Al-Saadi maintains deep ideological and operational links to the IRGC and the Iraqi militia Kata'ib Hezbollah.

He reportedly viewed Soleimani as a mentor and a father figure, following the 2006 death of his own father, Ahmad Kazemi, an Iranian brigadier general.

Al-Saadi was reportedly sent to Tehran for specialized training with the IRGC before establishing a travel agency in Baghdad, which investigators allege served as a front for connecting with global militant cells.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations cited by the New York Post suggest that Al-Saadi's activities were not limited to the Trump family. 

He is accused of planning and coordinating multiple strikes on U.S. and Jewish targets internationally. These reportedly include the March 2026 firebombing of the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam, a shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto, and the stabbing of two Jewish victims in London in April 2026.

Further allegations include the bombing of a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, and an arson attack on a temple in Rotterdam.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Senior Fellow at the New Lines Institute who was previously held hostage by Kata’ib Hezbollah in Baghdad, noted that Al-Saadi's relationship with Soleimani provided him significant prestige within Iraqi militia circles. 

She told the New York Post that Al-Saadi reportedly maintained a close relationship with Soleimani's successor, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, who continued to provide resources for his operations.

The suspect's arrest occurred on May 15, 2026, in Turkey while he was reportedly in transit to Russia. 

At the time of his capture, Al-Saadi was found to be in possession of an Iraqi service passport, a document typically reserved for government employees.

Qanbar told the New York Post that such a document, which requires high-level official consent, allowed the suspect to bypass standard security checks and travel freely between countries where attacks were allegedly planned.

Federal court documents cited in the reporting highlighted Al-Saadi's active social media presence, which included photos of him consulted by Soleimani at military facilities. 

In various posts, he allegedly referred to Iranian military leaders as "martyrs" and pledged to remain active until the "American enemy is defeated."

Al-Saadi is currently held in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

While the White House has not issued a formal comment on the specific assassination plot, U.S. law enforcement continues to investigate the full extent of the suspect's international network and his alleged ties to broader regional paramilitary forces.