IRGC-linked terrorist pleads not guilty to plotting Ivanka Trump assassination

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, right, with Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force (left)

An IRGC-linked terrorist accused of plotting to assassinate Ivanka Trump and orchestrating attacks on US and Israeli targets around the world flashed a smile in a Manhattan courtroom Monday as he pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges- then claimed that American rockets were killing children in his country. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old dual Iranian-Iraqi national accused of planning 20 attacks across Europe and the United States, addressed the court through an Arabic interpreter during the hearing. “I’m not a criminal. … Our children are being killed by your rockets,” Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi told the court through an Arabic interpreter. “I’m not guilty. … I’m in a war situation,” he added. Al-Saadi grinned throughout the proceeding, including as prosecutors outlined a lengthy list of charges against him. He appeared in court wearing a jail-issued tan jumpsuit over an orange shirt, orange Crocs and shackles. Sources told The Post that Al-Saadi possessed a blueprint of Ivanka Trump’s Florida residence and allegedly posted online threats warning Americans that “neither your palaces nor the Secret Service will protect you.” Former Iraqi diplomat Entifadh Qanbar said Al-Saadi repeatedly spoke of killing Ivanka Trump “to burn down the house of Trump the way he burned down our house.” He has not been charged in connection with those allegations. According to the Justice Department, Al-Saadi has been charged in an eight-count indictment tied to his alleged role as an operative of Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), both designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States. Authorities said he coordinated the bombing of a Bank of New York office in Amsterdam, a synagogue in Belgium and the stabbing of two Jewish victims in London. Prosecutors also accuse him of plotting to bomb a prominent New York City synagogue. While authorities have not publicly identified the synagogue, they allege Al-Saadi paid a person who turned out to be an undercover agent $3,000 toward a promised $10,000 payment to carry out the attack. The Justice Department said Al-Saadi has been linked to 16 planned or executed attacks against international targets during March and April alone. Researcher and former hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov reportedly said he had close connections to Qasem Soleimani and later to Soleimani’s successor, Esmail Qaani. Officials said Al-Saadi boasted that he was like a son to Qasem Soleimani and claimed he was close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Al-Saadi claims to be part of the ‘resistance,’ a group that includes IRGC, an Iran-based designated foreign terror organization,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. Officials also allege that Al-Saadi used an Iraqi service passport and a travel agency as cover to travel between countries and coordinate with terror cells. Investigators said he frequently posted on social media, sharing selfies from European landmarks and images involving weapons systems. Al-Saadi was arrested in Turkey earlier this month before being transferred to New York. He faces charges including conspiring to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, conspiring to bomb a place of public use and attempted acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries. The latter two charges carry potential sentences of up to life in prison.