A former US Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to plotting to attack a naval station in Chicago, Illinois, purportedly on behalf of Iran, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.
Xuanyu Harry Pang, 38, pleaded guilty on November 5, with the plea unsealed on Friday. He was accused of planning to carry out the attack on Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, “with the intent to injure, interfere with and obstruct the national defence of the United States”.
According to court records, in the summer of 2021 Pang communicated with a person in Colombia about assisting with a plan involving “Iranian actors” to conduct an attack against the US to avenge the death of Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force who was killed in a US air strike on Baghdad in 2020.
An FBI employee, posing as an affiliate of the Quds Force, communicated with the person in Colombia, who put the employee in touch with Pang, who at the time was stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes.
“The pair communicated online through an encrypted messaging application about possible targets for the attack, including Naval Station Great Lakes and other locations in the Chicago area,” the Department of Justice said.
On three occasions, Pang met another person working with the FBI who was posing as an associate of the other FBI employee pretending to be affiliated with the IRGC. During the meetings, Pang displayed photos and videos on his phone of locations inside the naval station and provided two US military uniforms for use in the attack, as well as a mobile phone that could be used as a test for a detonator.
He will be sentenced at a later date but faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The plea comes after a Pakistani man was in August charged with plotting to assassinate a US politician on behalf of the IRGC. Another Pakistani man was charged that same month with planning to engage in an attack in New York on the anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Settlers
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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On sale: Available for pre-order now
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Key facilities
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- 600-seat auditorium
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
