A man arrested and taken into police custody after entering the Iranian consulate in Paris

An Iranian national was arrested. arrested and placed on guard &agrav; seen Friday after entering the hotel in the Iranian consulate à Paris, wearing a vest containing dummy grenades.

No explosive was found “neither in the premises of the consulate, nor in the vehicle” of the suspect, announced the Paris Police Prefecture (PP) after the intervention of the Research Brigade and intervention (BRI), an elite police unit.

According to a police source, the man was wearing a vest with large pockets containing three dummy offensive grenades.

The Paris prosecutor's office also told AFP that “no explosive material” had been found “at this stage, nor on him, nor on the spot.”

“According to the first elements, it is a man born in 1963 in Iran”, continued the prosecution, adding that he had left the consulate “of his own accord” and that he “would have uttered threats of violent action”.

The suspect was taken into custody. The investigation is open for “threat of death materialized by wearing a fake vest representing explosives”.

The investigations, entrusted to the 1st judicial police district, have the “objective of verifying whether the constituent elements of the offense are characterized and of understanding the intention which motivated the suspect”, according to the prosecution.

– Already convicted –

“Checks and reports continue in order to clarify the legal situation”, according to the same source.

Asked by AFP, the prosecution confirmed that this man had been tried by the Paris criminal court in immediate appearance in October 2023 for having set fire to tires in front of the gate of the Iranian embassy on September 9, act that he had claimed in protest against the Iranian regime.

He was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment with suspended probation and a ban on appearing in the 16th arrondissement for two years, as well as a ban on carrying a weapon. He had appealed.

According to a source close to the case, his appeal trial is to take place Monday afternoon in Paris.

Consulate of Iran in Paris © AFP – Sabrina BLANCHARD, Emma BONNEM

Friday's affair began around “11:00 a.m.” with the report of a man who “would have been seen by a single witness entering the consulate, rue Fresnel, carrying a grenade or an explosive vest”, the PP had reported to AFP a little earlier.

At the beginning of the afternoon, a security perimeter had been set up around the consulate, located in the 16th arrondissement, near the Trocadéro.

Traffic on metro lines 9 and 6 serving the Trocadéro station, the closest to the consulate Iran, was interrupted for security reasons before resuming in the middle of the afternoon, RATP said on X.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez mobilized, in addition to the BRI, significant police forces, noted an AFP journalist on site. The prefect was responding to a “request for intervention” from the consulate.

Soldiers on patrol near the Iranian consulate in Paris, April 19, 2024 © AFP – Miguel MEDINA

The Iranian consulate and embassy share the same building but have different entrances: 4 avenue d'Iena for the embassy and 16 rue Fresnel for the consulate.

A little after 3:00 p.m., BRI men, over-equipped, helmets on their heads and weapons in their hands, left their belongings in an unmarked van before leaving the scene.< /p>

After the arrest of the suspect, the security system was gradually eased, according to the AFP journalist.

France raised its Vigipirate emergency attack system, to its highest level, after the attack perpetrated in March in Moscow in a performance hall.

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