French Police Foil Bomb Attack Outside Bank of America in Paris, Arrest Three as Iran Link Probed

French counter-terrorism police arrested three men in connection with an improvised explosive device discovered outside a Bank of America branch in central Paris early Saturday morning, foiling what investigators described as a planned attack on American financial interests in France amid escalating Iranian-linked threats across Europe.

The device was found at approximately 3:30 a.m. local time on the Rue de la Boétie in the 8th arrondissement, a few streets from the Champs-Élysées and close to several American and Israeli business premises. Police arrested the first suspect moments after he placed the device, which consisted of five liters of accelerant liquid and approximately 650 grams of explosive powder. Two additional suspects were detained in follow-up operations within hours of the initial arrest. None of the suspects has been publicly identified by French authorities.

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office, known as the PNAT, and the DGSI — the domestic intelligence service — took over the investigation, confirming they were actively examining a suspected Iranian link to the plot. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who was briefed overnight, called the incident "the concretisation of the Iranian threat towards American and Israeli interests everywhere in Europe" and said France was sharing intelligence with allied governments. The Bank of America building houses offices of the American bank's French operations and is one of several hundred American corporate locations in the city.

French intelligence services have been tracking a surge in Iranian-directed or Iranian-inspired attack planning in Europe since the United States and Israel launched joint military operations against Iran in late February. The DGSI has arrested more than a dozen individuals since the war began in connection with alleged Iranian plots against American, Israeli, and Saudi diplomatic and commercial targets on French soil. Germany's BfV and Britain's MI5 have issued similar warnings about the elevated threat environment.

The foiled Paris attack followed warnings by the U.S. State Department last week urging American citizens in Europe to exercise heightened caution around American corporate facilities, embassies, and cultural institutions. President Trump, speaking from the White House on Saturday afternoon, called the French government's response "very professional" and said his administration was working with European partners to share intelligence about Iranian external operations networks. French President Emmanuel Macron issued a brief statement thanking the police and counter-terrorism services for their rapid action and condemned what he called "a foreign power's attempt to terrorize civilians on French soil."