France suspects link to pro-Iranian group HAYI in foiled Paris bomb plot
The group had posted a video on March 23 targeting Jewish interests and communities in Europe, naming Bank of America’s Paris headquarters
France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI to be behind a foiled attack on Bank of America’s Paris offices, its anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday, while stressing the link has not yet been formally established.
HAYI, which stands for Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, had posted a video on social media on March 23 targeting Jewish interests and communities in France and Europe, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
It added the video specifically named Bank of America’s Paris headquarters in the French capital’s 8th district.
“In light of the aforementioned video targeting this US bank and the modus operandi observed in similar operations across several European countries, this attack … appears to be linked to the HAYI group, although this has not yet been formally established at this stage of the proceedings,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The group – unknown until a spate of attacks across Europe on US, Israeli and Jewish targets for which it claimed responsibility – appears new.
Security sources say it appears to be using a model previously linked to Iran to recruit criminal groups or petty criminals to carry out attacks.