An ISIS militant carrying the regime's flag in a propaganda video.
According to US Attorney Loretta Lynch's office, the three men - Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, Akhror Saidakhmetov, and Abror Habibov - were involved in a plot to travel to the Middle East to join the jihadist fight.
Saidakhmetov, a Kazakh citizen, was actually arrested Wednesday morning as he attempted board a plane to Istanbul at John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said. According to the complaint, Juraboe, an Uzbek citizen, had purchased his own plane ticket and was set to fly to Turkey next month, and Habibov, also an Uzbek citizen, funded Saidakhmetov's attempt to join the Islamic State.
Two of the men were also allegedly willing to commit an act of terrorism within the United States.
"Juraboev was also prepared to engage in an act of terrorism in the United States if ordered to do so by ISIL," Lynch's office said, "and Saidakhmetov intended to commit such an act if unable to travel abroad to join ISIL."
Lynch, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next US attorney general, further vowed to "vigorously prosecute" all three alleged terrorists and anyone else caught conspiring to support the Islamic State.
"The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies," Lynch said in a statement. "We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIL and those who support them. Anyone who threatens our citizens and our allies, here or abroad, will face the full force of American justice."
Lawyers for the three defendants were not immediately available for comment.