Anti-terror officers were seen surrounding the Iranian consulate in Paris today after a man forced his way in wearing an alleged explosives vest and carrying a grenade
Anti-terror police have surrounded an Iranian consulate after receiving reports of a man armed with a grenade in Paris.
The man is said to have forced his way inside whilst allegedly wearing a vest packed with explosives on Friday. The frightening incident is said to have taken place at around 11am close to the Eiffel Tower. A security source at the scene said the man placed a national flag on the floor. According to the source, the man carried out the act so he could “avenge his brother.”
The source said: “The man presented him at the consulate, and then removed his coat, to show off an alleged explosives vest. He said he was carrying a grenade, and then placed a national flag on the floor. He said he wanted to avenge his brother. A security perimeter is in place, with nobody allowed to enter it.”
A unit from the BRI research and intervention brigade arrived within minutes, and sealed off the surrounding area. Large numbers of highly armed special operations police could be seen moving in to the area. The man gave himself soon after 2pm, walking out of the consulate with his hands in the air and surrendering to police.
“He had no explosives or weapons on him,” the source continued. “He was placed under arrest immediately and taken away to a secure police station for questioning. The security perimeter will be maintained for a while yet.” BRI officers were spotted around the area, together with sniffer dogs, just in case explosives had been hidden close-by.
It comes following days of extreme tension between the two countries. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for “calm heads” to prevail amid reports of a retaliatory attack by Israel against Iran today. He said it would not be right for him to speculate on the reports, but said Israel “absolutely has the right to self defence” while also warning the UK’s ally to avoid “significant escalation”.
Lord David Cameron and fellow G7 foreign ministers also urged both sides to exercise restraint and warned Tehran could face new sanctions if it did not heed the calls. Iran said it fired air defence systems early on Friday at an air base and nuclear site near the city of Isfahan to shoot down drones, which are suspected to be part of an Israeli operation days after it was targeted by a barrage of Iranian drones and missiles.
Tel Aviv has not commented publicly, but unnamed US officials said Israel carried out the airstrikes, according to reports. Asked about the incident after a speech on welfare reform in London on Friday, Mr Sunak said: “As you would appreciate, it’s a developing situation. It wouldn’t be right for me to speculate until the facts become clear, and we’re working to confirm the details together with allies.
“We have condemned Iran’s reckless and dangerous barrage of missiles against Israel on Saturday, and Israel absolutely has the right to self defence. But as I said to Prime Minister Netanyahu when I spoke to him last week, and more generally, significant escalation is not in anyone’s interest. What we want to see is calm heads prevail across the region.”
