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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

Rubio Says US Hopeful in Private Talks After Iran ‘Fractures’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks to the press before his departure following a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting with Partner Countries before his departure at the Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, France, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks to the press before his departure following a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting with Partner Countries before his departure at the Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, France, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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Rubio Says US Hopeful in Private Talks After Iran ‘Fractures’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks to the press before his departure following a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting with Partner Countries before his departure at the Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, France, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks to the press before his departure following a G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting with Partner Countries before his departure at the Bourget airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, France, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday voiced hope for working with elements within Iran's government, saying the United States privately had received positive messages.

Rubio said there were internal "fractures" inside the country and that the United States hopes figures with "power to deliver" take charge.

"We are hopeful that that's the case," Rubio told the ABC News program "Good Morning America."

"There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous people in charge in Iran have not spoken to us in the past, some of the things they're willing to do," he said.

Rubio nonetheless also denounced Tehran in broad strokes, insisting that the war aimed to end its nuclear weapons building capacity, which President Donald Trump said he accomplished during an attack last year.

"These people are lunatics. They are insane. They are religious zealots who can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon because they have an apocalyptic vision of the future," Rubio said.

In a separate interview with Al Jazeera, Rubio said there were "messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States."

The communication is "primarily through intermediaries, but there's been some conversation," he told the Qatar-based news channel.

"I think the president always prefers diplomacy."

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon and the UN nuclear watchdog has said no bomb was imminent.

Rubio's comments came a day after Trump said that Iran has already gone through "regime change," one month into the war launched by the United States and Israel.

Trump said that the United States was speaking to a "whole different group of people" and that they were "very reasonable."

On the first day of the war Israel assassinated Iran's longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and subsequent strikes have killed other top leaders.

Rubio said that there was a difference between private and public messages coming from Iran.

"Obviously they're not going to put it out in press releases, and what they say to you or put out there for the world doesn't necessarily reflect what they're saying in our conversations," Rubio said in the ABC interview.

Despite the Trump administration's public talk of diplomacy, the United States has been reinforcing its military presence in the region and Trump on Monday threatened to "blow up" Iran's oil-exporting island of Kharg if purported talks fail.

The comments from the administration signal a readiness to work with some form of the regime, after the United States and Israel at the start of the war spoke of toppling the government which weeks earlier killed thousands of people as it crushed mass protests.

World

Iran Hangs Two ‘Political Prisoners’ from Banned Opposition

A member of police special forces stands guard on top their car at the Enqelab-e-Eslami square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP)
A member of police special forces stands guard on top their car at the Enqelab-e-Eslami square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Hangs Two ‘Political Prisoners’ from Banned Opposition

A member of police special forces stands guard on top their car at the Enqelab-e-Eslami square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP)
A member of police special forces stands guard on top their car at the Enqelab-e-Eslami square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP)

Iran hanged two men on Monday for membership of a banned opposition group, with rights groups describing them as political prisoners and expressing fear of a surge in executions aimed at cowing the population during the Middle East war.

Akbar Daneshvarkar, 60, and Mohammad Taghavi-Sangdehi, 59, were hanged at dawn in the notorious Gehzel Hesar prison in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj for membership of the outlawed People's Mujahedin of Iran, also known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).

They were executed "after confirmation and final approval of the sentence by the Supreme Court", the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

The MEK opposed the rule of the shah and initially supported the 1979 revolution but rapidly fell out with the new clerical leadership in the 1980s. It is now based in exile and is designated as a terrorist organization by Tehran.

The group's political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCIR), confirmed in a statement that the two were members of the MEK.

Its leader Maryam Rajavi said "the desperate clerical regime, in fear of the people's uprising, vainly attempts to delay the explosion of the people's anger for a short while by executing the bravest children of Iran."

Activists expressed fear that there would be a new surge in executions as authorities sought to spread fear throughout society against the backdrop of the war against Israel and the United States.

Amnesty International described the executions as arbitrary and said the two men had been subjected "to torture and other ill-treatment in detention" and also not allowed a final goodbye to families.

- 'Ruthless execution machinery' -

"Even amid the aerial bombardment, authorities are continuing their ruthless execution machinery, weaponizing the death penalty against dissidents in a desperate bid to stifle dissent and tighten their grip on power," Amnesty said.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, said "we fear that the Islamic Republic will exploit the current wartime conditions to carry out mass executions inside prisons to instill societal fear".

IHR said the two men were political prisoners and were "subjected to physical and psychological torture, denied due process rights and sentenced to death in a process that did not meet minimum fair trial standards".

It warned that four co-defendants were "at grave and imminent risk of execution" in Ghezel Hesar prison after being sentenced to death in the same case.

Shadi Sadr, co-founder of the NGO Justice for Iran, which seeks legal accountability for rights violations in the country, said "the Iranian people are trapped between an international war and severe internal repression".

Mizan said the two executed men were charged with participating in "terrorist acts", carrying out actions aimed at overthrowing the regime, and disrupting national security.

According to the NCRI, the MEK regularly carried out actions inside Iran aimed at the clerical authorities.

Iran on March 19 executed three men who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities.

It also executed Kouroush Keyvani, a dual Iranian-Swedish national, the same month on charges of spying for Israel, drawing condemnation from Stockholm and the EU.

Iran is the world's most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups. Last year it hanged at least 1,500 people, according to figures from IHR.

World

Türkiye Says NATO Defenses Down Missile from Iran

Türkiye's ‌defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading ‌on Monday. (Reuters file)
Türkiye's ‌defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading ‌on Monday. (Reuters file)
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Türkiye Says NATO Defenses Down Missile from Iran

Türkiye's ‌defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading ‌on Monday. (Reuters file)
Türkiye's ‌defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading ‌on Monday. (Reuters file)

A ballistic missile fired from Iran entered Turkish airspace on Monday and was shot down by NATO defenses, Ankara said, in the fourth such incident reported since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

There was no immediate comment from ‌Tehran which has ‌denied specifically targeting its neighbor Türkiye during the ‌conflict and ⁠has said it ⁠was not involved in the previous three missile launches, which were all downed by NATO defenses.

NATO's spokesperson said the alliance intercepted an Iranian missile heading towards its member country Türkiye, adding that it was "prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend all Allies".

Iran has fired missiles at countries across the Middle East since the ⁠start of the conflict, striking oil infrastructure and bases ‌with US forces in the region.

Türkiye's ‌defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading ‌on Monday.

Türkiye's Incirlik Air Base in the southern Adana province hosts ‌US, Turkish, Polish, and other personnel.

US personnel are also stationed at NATO's Kurecik radar station in Türkiye's southeastern Malatya province where the alliance recently deployed a Patriot missile defense system.

Separately, Türkiye's Chief of the General Staff, ‌General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, held a video conference with NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone on Monday, ⁠to discuss regional ⁠defense and security issues, the defense ministry said.

The ministry said all necessary measures were being taken "decisively and without hesitation" against any threat directed at Türkiye's territory and airspace.

The incident comes after talks in Islamabad at the weekend between the top diplomats of Türkiye, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia on potential ways to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

Türkiye had offered and tried to mediate between Iran and the United States before the war started at the end of last month.

Ankara has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict, criticized the US-Israeli attacks as illegal, and described Iran's attacks on regional countries as unacceptable.