Goldman Sachs in Paris has been warned of a terrorist attack threat - Le Parisien

The headquarters of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs in Paris on Wednesday evening, April 1, was taken under police surveillance, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien. The reason was that "an Iranian group allegedly threatened to attack the bank building with explosive devices," a source told the newspaper.

U.S. authorities contacted the bank, calling for "increased vigilance," writes Bloomberg. On Thursday, April 2, the Paris prosecutor's office said that during the inspection of suspicious items in the office of Goldman in Paris was not found, specifies Le Parisien.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment to Bloomberg. Paris police officials did not respond to inquiries.

Employees of Goldman's Paris office were allowed to work from home on Thursday, April 2, a source familiar with the situation told Bloomberg. Some other major banks in Europe have taken similar steps: according to a Citigroup spokesman, the company's employees in Paris and Frankfurt will work remotely on Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3, as a precautionary measure, Bloomberg writes.

Earlier, Iran called its "legitimate target" financial organizations that finance the U.S. military-industrial complex. The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote about this on his X page in late March.

The threats against Goldman came just a few days after police foiled a bombing attempt near the Paris office of Bank of America, another U.S. investment bank, Bloomberg reports. On April 1, French authorities charged and detained one adult and three teenagers aged 16 to 17 for the incident. Among their motives French authorities call "revenge" because of the war with Iran.

Representatives of the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office are investigating whether the incidents may be linked to a pro-Iranian propaganda video released in late March by the HAYI (Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya) group. Investigators are trying to determine whether the activities of the detainees in Paris were directly coordinated by that organization. In the video, the group called for "acts of retaliation" against U.S. interests and the Jewish community in Europe, with the French headquarters of Bank of America listed as a specific target, Bloomberg reported.

Interrogations, analysis of the suspects' cell phones and surveillance footage revealed that the three minors were recruited by an unknown person on the night of March 26-27. They were instructed to bring an incendiary device to the Bank of America building, set it on fire and videotape the event for a reward of between €500 and €1000. After the first failed attempt, two of the teens repeated the attempt on the night of March 28. At 3:20 a.m., police officers on duty outside the bank's headquarters intervened and apprehended one of the suspects. The second managed to escape, but was caught a day later. One of the detainees told authorities that he had been contacted via social media with an offer to plant a bomb as an act of personal vendetta, and that a stranger had brought him the explosive device.

The suspects deny terrorist intent, Bloomberg adds, citing data from the French prosecutor's office. The French prosecutor's office is seeking charges against the detainees for "criminal terrorist conspiracy," "manufacturing an explosive or incendiary device," and attempted destruction of property.

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