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Police Arrest Two More over Attempted Attack on US Bank HQ in Paris

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
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Police Arrest Two More over Attempted Attack on US Bank HQ in Paris

Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)
Police stand outside the Bank of America building in Paris, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga)

French police on Monday arrested two more people over an apparent bid to set off a homemade explosive device outside a Bank of America branch in Paris, bringing the total in custody to five, prosecutors said.

The arrests follow an incident early Saturday morning when police arrested a first suspect after he placed a device outside the US financial institution near the Champs-Elysees.

The two individuals detained on Monday are adults, according to a source following the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The national anti-terror prosecutor's office (PNAT) told AFP that the three minors arrested over the weekend in connection with the case had their detentions extended.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez suggested on Saturday that the war in the Middle East might have motivated the attempted attack.

The suspect who placed the device was accompanied by a second person, who appeared to be taking photos and videos with a mobile phone but fled when police arrived.

The device contained five litres of liquid (nearly nine imperial pints) believed to be fuel and an ignition system, a source close to the investigation said.

Police said the suspect arrested early Saturday outside the bank had told them he was a minor and from Senegal. They were working to verify his identity.

According to a police source, the first suspect said he had been recruited through the Snapchat app to carry out a bombing in exchange for 600 euros ($688).

The PNAT told AFP on Saturday it had launched a probe into "attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means".

The incident came after more than a month of US and Israeli bombardment of Iran.

The war has escalated into a regional conflagration, with Iran retaliating by attacking Gulf states, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.

The French government and security services have said that while they do not believe France itself is a target, US and Israeli interests on its soil might potentially be singled out.

Nunez said he did not know who was behind the incident but added that it might have been "proxies" linked to Iran.

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World

Iran Seizes Ships in Strait of Hormuz after Trump Halts Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS
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Iran Seizes Ships in Strait of Hormuz after Trump Halts Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS

Iran seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway, after US President Donald Trump called off attacks indefinitely with no sign of peace talks restarting.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Revolutionary Guards had seized two vessels for maritime violations and escorted them to Iranian shores. It was the first time Iran has seized ships since the war began at the end of February.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy also warned that any disruption to order and safety in the strait would be considered a "red line", Tasnim said.

Earlier, a British maritime security agency reported that three ships had come under fire.

Trump said in a statement on social media late on Tuesday that the US had agreed to a request by Pakistani mediators "to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal ... and discussions are concluded, one way or the other."

But even as he announced what appeared to be a unilateral ceasefire extension, Trump also said he would continue the US Navy's blockade of Iran's trade by sea. The US fired on and seized an Iranian cargo vessel on Saturday and boarded a huge Iranian oil tanker on Tuesday in the Indian Ocean.

Iran considers the US blockade an act of war and has said that as long as it continues it will not lift its closure of the strait, which has caused a global energy crisis.

In a show of defiance, Iran showcased some of its ballistic weapons at a parade in Tehran on Tuesday evening, with images showing a large banner in the background with a fist choking off the strait, the WANA news agency reported.

Captions read: "Indefinitely under Iran's Control" and "Trump could not do a damn thing", referring to the waterway.

PAKISTAN STILL WORKING TO FOSTER TALKS DESPITE 'SETBACK'

Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator, was still trying to bring the sides together for negotiations after both failed to show up for last-ditch talks on Tuesday before the two-week-old ceasefire had been due to expire.

A luxury hotel in Islamabad had been cleared out for the talks, but Iran never publicly accepted the invitation and the US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never left Washington. The hotel was still shut on Wednesday but a wider security perimeter had been loosened.

"We were all prepared for the talks, the stage was set," a Pakistani official briefed on the preparations told Reuters. "If you ask me honestly, it was a setback we were not expecting, because the Iranians never refused, they were up to come and join, and they still are."

Another Pakistani source who was involved in the talks said Pakistan was still "working very hard to bridge that conflict, talk to each side with their sensitivities in mind".

"We will know later on when they can come. Things change so often it's hard to speak on what's to come," the source said.

There was no response early on Wednesday to Trump's ceasefire announcement from senior Iranian officials, although some initial reactions from Tehran suggested Trump's comments were being treated skeptically.

Tasnim said Iran had not asked for a ceasefire extension and repeated Tehran's threats to break the US blockade by force.

An adviser to Iran's lead negotiator, the speaker of parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Trump's announcement might be a ploy.

Just hours before Trump called off attacks, he had repeated threats to resume them, saying his military was "raring to go".

World

Chief of Staff: Israel Ready ‘to Return Immediately and Forcefully’ to Fighting on All Fronts

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
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Chief of Staff: Israel Ready ‘to Return Immediately and Forcefully’ to Fighting on All Fronts

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that the military remained on high alert and was ready to return to fighting on all fronts, amid the fragile truces in Iran and Lebanon.

“Since the inferno of October 7, we have been working to reestablish our military strength through continuous fighting,” Zamir said while addressing soldiers honored at an Independence Day ceremony at the President’s Residence.

The Times of Israel quoted Zamir as saying that in Gaza, the Israeli military “prevailed in the fight against Hamas.”

“At this very moment, we are conducting intense fighting in Lebanon to strengthen the defense of the northern communities,” he stated.

“So too in the fighting against Iran in Rising Lion and Roaring Lion,” he said, referring to the June 2025 war with Iran and the latest 40-day conflict with Iran.

The Israeli military is on high alert and “prepared to return immediately and forcefully to combat in all sectors,” Zamir added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah ahead of negotiations in Washington on Thursday.

The meeting follows a similar gathering last week in Washington, and is the first time in decades the two countries are speaking directly.

World

NATO ‘Will Always Defend’ Türkiye, Says Rutte

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defense Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler (R) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) shaking hands during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 21 April 2026. (EPA/Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defense Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler (R) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) shaking hands during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 21 April 2026. (EPA/Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout)
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NATO ‘Will Always Defend’ Türkiye, Says Rutte

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defense Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler (R) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) shaking hands during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 21 April 2026. (EPA/Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Defense Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler (R) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte (L) shaking hands during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 21 April 2026. (EPA/Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout)

NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday the alliance would do "what's necessary to defend" its members including Türkiye after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and head into Turkish air space over the past weeks.

A member of the US-led defense alliance, Türkiye, which borders Iran, has been largely spared the sort of retaliation from Tehran suffered by countries in the Middle East before the ceasefire.

NATO forces had shot down ballistic missiles fired from Iran for four times, prompting the alliance to deploy a new Patriot missile battery at Incirlik air base in southern Türkiye.

"Iran is spreading terror and chaos, and you feel this prominently here in Türkiye," Rutte told journalists on a visit to Türkiye’s largest defense electronics company Aselsan.

"In recent weeks, NATO has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Türkiye from Iran on four separate occasions," he said.

"NATO is prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend Türkiye and all others. And we cannot do it alone," he added.

Rutte's visit comes ahead of a July summit by NATO leaders to be held in Ankara.

Praising the progress made by Türkiye in the defense field, Rutte said: "We can learn a lot from what Türkiye is doing here".

"This is needed because we live in a more dangerous world... and that means we need strong defenses to protect our security".

Rutte said: "Türkiye has gone through a defense industrial revolution. I could really say it's a revolution in recent years."

The NATO chief is due to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.