French authorities arrested a man who threatened to blow himself up at Iran’s consulate in Paris, a police source said Friday after officers cordoned off the building in the French capital.
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Police earlier surrounded the Iranian consulate and asked the public to avoid the area in the 16th arrondissement (district) of the French capital.
A Paris police official said the man was seen at about 11am local time (0900 GMT) entering the consulate, carrying what appeared to be a grenade and an explosive vest.
The man later left the consulate and on being searched was found not to be carrying any explosives, a police source said.
The man’s motives were not immediately clear.
Le Parisien newspaper said on its website that, according to several witnesses, the man had dragged flags on the floor of the consulate and said he wanted to avenge the death of his brother.
Service was interrupted on a nearby metro line for security reasons, the RATP metro company said.
It was unclear whether the incident had any link to the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
Earlier on Friday, explosions echoed over the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation – a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AP)
