A man wearing a fake explosive vest and making threats was detained Friday outside the Iranian Consulate in Paris after police locked down the highly-populated area, authorities said.
The Iranian-born suspect had been convicted (with an eight-month suspended sentence) for setting fire to the Iranian Embassy gates last year in what he called a protest against the Iranian government, or setting car tires on fire at the same embassy’s gate, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
His motive is reportedly unclear at present.
While Israel struck Isfahan this morning, Paris is on high security as it sets up to host the Summer Olympics.
This morning, a witness told police that the man outside the embassy with grenade and an explosives vest, according to a Paris police official.
Once he entered the consulate, the man “made threats of violent acts” but then left the building alone, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Police then detained him, and found no weapons on him or his vehicle, the police official said.
The prosecutor’s office said the explosives vest turned out to be fake.
The man remains in custody.
