Two additional suspects were arrested Sunday in connection with the investigation into an alleged Iranian-linked plot to attack the Bank of America offices in Paris, near the Champs-Élysées. The arrests came a day after police detained a juvenile suspect who had attempted to ignite a homemade explosive device outside the building, while his accomplice fled the scene. The juvenile's detention was extended Sunday.
The incident took place at around 3:30 a.m., outside the Bank of America building in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Officers on patrol in the area apprehended the suspect just as he attempted to set off the device. According to an initial assessment, the device contained a 5-liter (1.3-gallon) canister of flammable liquid and an ignition mechanism loaded with 650 grams (22.9 ounces) of gunpowder.
A police source who spoke with local newspaper Le Parisien said the suspect claimed he had been recruited to carry out the attack via Snapchat, in exchange for €600 (approximately $660), and had been driven to the location by another individual. At the time of his arrest, he said he was a minor and a Senegalese national, though police noted his identity had yet to be confirmed.
A second police source told AFP that while the suspect was placing the device, his accomplice stood nearby filming the attack on a mobile phone. When officers arrived, the accomplice fled and had not yet been apprehended.
France's counter-terrorism unit within the national prosecutor's office announced it had assumed control of the investigation, on suspicion of "attempting to cause damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist enterprise" and "criminal conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack." France's domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, is also involved in the investigation.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised the officers' "swift" response on X, citing "the current international situation" as the apparent backdrop to the incident. In a later interview on BFMTV, he said he believed the Middle East conflict may have motivated the attack. "I am linking the actions carried out in neighboring countries," he said, "which were attributed to small groups that identified with the conflict."
The foiled Paris attack is part of a broader wave of incidents across western Europe in recent weeks. Among them: an explosive device that detonated outside a synagogue in Liège, Belgium; the arson of a synagogue in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; a Jewish school in Amsterdam; and the arson of four ambulances belonging to a Jewish organization in London the previous week – all of which were claimed by a previously unknown group identified as having ties to Iran.
The Paris incident illustrates an Iranian operational method documented across the continent: Iran recruits young people – primarily the children of immigrants and members of vulnerable communities – to carry out attacks, typically through social media platforms and messaging apps, for relatively small sums of money. The recruits are given a target, payment, and operational instructions only, with no knowledge of who they are working for. The method was previously documented in Scandinavia, where Iran used the Swedish criminal organization Foxtrot to recruit operatives to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.
A Bank of America spokesperson said the company "is aware of the situation and is in contact with the French authorities."
