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France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, on Saturday said that a foiled attempt to bomb a Bank of America building in Paris may be connected to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Authorities have also arrested three suspects in relation to the attempted attack, according to the country’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.
An initial suspect was apprehended at the scene after placing a device containing five litres of liquid, believed to be fuel, along with an ignition mechanism near the building, a police source told AFP.
French security services confirmed on Sunday that two additional suspects had been taken into custody in relation to the incident, which occurred at around 03:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Saturday in the city’s 8th arrondissement, close to the Champs-Élysées.
“In this type of conflict, you have a number of Iranian services that are likely to carry out actions such as these through proxies,” he said.
“There is a significant suspicion, but it is for the investigation to determine.”
The Iranian embassy in France has not commented on the remarks.
According to a police source, the initial suspect, who is a minor, was accompanied by another individual who appeared to be recording the scene on a mobile phone but fled when officers arrived.
“Two further individuals were taken into police custody last night as part of the investigation launched on March 28, 2026 into the offences committed against Bank of America,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The custody of the first suspect has been extended. Under French law, terrorism suspects can be held for up to 96 hours, with the possibility of further extension by a court.
Nuñez noted that similar plots had been disrupted in other European countries, including France, the Netherlands, Britain and Norway, and called for heightened vigilance, particularly at transport hubs and other sensitive locations.
The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office stated that it is investigating “attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist undertaking” as well as “terrorist criminal conspiracy”.
The Paris judicial police and France’s domestic intelligence agency, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), are also involved in the ongoing investigation.
