The French police arrested a man early Saturday as he tried to detonate an explosive device outside the headquarters of the Bank of America in central Paris, according to the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office.
The prosecutor has opened a terrorism investigation into the foiled attack, in the fashionable Eighth Arrondissement of Paris, only a few blocks from the Élysée Palace, where President Emmanuel Macron has his office and residence, and not far from the Champs-Élysées, a popular tourist destination.
Agence France-Presse, citing a person involved in the investigation, said the man was arrested around 3:30 a.m. with a homemade device that included five liters of liquid (about 1.3 gallons), believed to be fuel, and an ignition system. The ignition component had 650 grams, or about 23 ounces, of explosive powder in it, according to the news agency.
No details about the man’s nationality, age or any motive were released.
The prosecutor’s office did not release any details about the explosive device. But it said in a statement that it was investigating “attempted damage by fire or dangerous means” and the “manufacturing of incendiary or explosive devices in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, praised the police for foiling the attack, which comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions because of the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
“Bravo to the swift intervention of a Paris police prefecture team, which thwarted a violent terrorist attack last night in Paris,” Mr. Nuñez posted on social media. “Vigilance remains at a very high level.”
Mr. Nuñez said, “I commend all the security and intelligence forces fully mobilized under my authority in the current international context.”
Speaking later on French television, Mr. Nuñez confirmed there had been a second person in front of the bank during the episode, who fled and was still being sought by the police. “Clearly, there was a coordinated action,” he said.
Anxiety about foreign attacks on American and Israeli interests in Europe has risen in the four weeks since the war broke out. The conflict is unpopular in Europe, in part because of the energy crisis it has set off as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil and gas prices to spike.
Like other European allies, France has refused to take part in the military campaign, though it has deployed ships and warplanes to the Persian Gulf to defend countries with which it has security agreements from missile and drone strikes by Iran.
France and Britain are also negotiating to put together a multinational force to help keep open the Strait of Hormuz after the hostilities subside. The coalition, which could include 35 countries, would provide frigates to escort tankers through the strait and could shoot down Iranian drones and missiles, if necessary, with air-defense batteries mounted on the escort ships.
Mark Landler is the Paris bureau chief of The Times, covering France, as well as American foreign policy in Europe and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
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