Paris, France – The French anti-terrorism prosecutor, in an official statement issued on Wednesday, April 3, revealed strong suspicions surrounding a pro-Iranian group calling itself the “Movement of the Right-Wing Islamists.” He accused the group of being behind the failed terrorist attack targeting the Bank of America headquarters in the heart of Paris.
Video incitement and forensic evidence
The prosecutor’s office explained that the “Right-Wing Movement” had posted a video on social media on April 25. This video explicitly identified the bank’s headquarters in Paris’s 8th arrondissement as the target. The statement indicated that the operational methods used in this attempt were identical to similar attacks carried out by the group in several European countries against American, Israeli, and Jewish targets. It also confirmed that the ongoing investigations are seeking to formally and definitively establish this link.
Mercenaries and criminal gangs
In a related development, the French Interior Minister stated that there were “strong suspicions” pointing to the Iranian regime’s involvement in planning the attack. Security sources explained that the group employs a strategy of recruiting members from criminal gangs or “petty criminals” to carry out its operations. This tactic has become a hallmark of Iranian intelligence to avoid direct prosecution.
Reuters quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying, “After the failed Paris bombing plot in 2018, Tehran resorted to using mercenaries to make it more difficult to track down the masterminds, and we expect these criminal networks to become more widely active in Europe.”
The most powerful incendiary device in French history
The prosecutor’s office described the device discovered on April 29 as the “most powerful of its kind” in the country’s history; a five-liter can of gasoline was connected to a massive explosive device designed to cause widespread destruction.
So far, the investigation has led to the formal arrest of four suspects. These include three minors and one adult. Meanwhile, another individual was released due to insufficient evidence. This comes amid heightened security measures in France to thwart any Iranian attempts to export military tensions to Europe through proxy warfare.
