PARIS — French officials are examining potential connections to Iran following the disruption of a planned bombing targeting a Bank of America facility in Paris this past weekend, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez who spoke publicly Monday.
The investigation centers on possible Iranian involvement due to striking resemblances with other recent European attack attempts that were later claimed by an Iran-supporting organization, Nuñez explained.
Paris law enforcement officers observed two individuals carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of America location in the city’s 8th district on Saturday morning. Since then, three people have been taken into custody while France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor has launched a formal terrorism investigation.
Officials are establishing a “direct link” with Iran because the “modus operandi is in every respect similar to actions that have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Belgium,” Nuñez stated during a Monday morning interview on RTL radio.
Those previous incidents involved claims from a pro-Iranian organization that “linked them to the conflict” in the Middle East, he noted.
The organization, which operates on Telegram under the designation Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, meaning the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also took responsibility for a recent London attack where four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity were burned.
“Typically, intelligence services of this country (Iran) operate in this way: they use proxies, a series of subcontractors, often common criminals, to carry out highly targeted actions aimed at U.S. interests, the interests of the Jewish community, or Iranian opposition figures,” Nuñez explained.
According to Nuñez, French security agencies have enhanced protection measures for important individuals and locations since the United States and Israel began their military action against Iran on February 28, including increased personal security for certain Iranian opposition leaders.
