PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) - A man and three minors have been put in pre-trial detention as part of investigations into a foiled March bomb attack on the Bank of America's Paris office, authorities said - a plot that officials say may be linked to a pro-Iranian group.
The explosive device was the most powerful of its kind discovered in France and "could have generated ... a powerful fireball several metres in diameter and spread a fire," the anti-terrorism prosecutor said late on Wednesday.
The adult and three minors aged 16 and 17 are under formal investigation on suspicion of manufacturing, transporting and handling an explosive device and trying to destroy property as part of a terrorist organization, according to the statement.
All four denied terrorist intent, it added. The adult said he was contacted on a social network by someone who identified themselves as an intermediary and then sent him the device, according to the statement.
The teenagers acknowledged knowing the target was not a residential building, it added. There were no immediate statements from any lawyers representing the suspects.
Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt, but indicates judges consider there is enough evidence to proceed with the probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or dropped.
France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI could be behind the plot that was foiled on March 28, even though the link has not yet been formally established, the prosecutor said earlier this week.
HAYI had posted a video on social media on March 23 specifically naming Bank of America's Paris headquarters.
Investigators established through CCTV footage, phone data and police interviews that the adult had recruited the three teenagers between the nights of March 26 and 27, paying them between 500 and 1,000 euros ($580-$1,160) to plant the device, light it and film the scene, the prosecutor's office said.
The three minors had no criminal record and the adult was convicted in a drug-related case in 2025, according to the statement. A fifth person was arrested and interrogated by police but later freed for lack of evidence.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Andrew Heavens)
