Iran attempted attack in Paris, half a kilo of explosives found - report
The British newspaper "Independent in Arabic" quoted an intelligence source as saying that in 2018 Iran had delivered half a ton of TATP explosives in diplomatic packages to a civilian plane.
By YASSER OKBI/MAARIVGeneral view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France(photo credit: CHARLES PLATIAU / REUTERS)
Half a kilo of explosives was brought to Paris in a diplomatic suitcases in order to carry out a terror attack, before being foiled by French authorities, it was reported in the British media.The British newspaper "Independent in Arabic" quoted an intelligence source as saying that in 2018 Iran had delivered half a ton of TATP explosives in diplomatic packages to a civilian plane that was supposed to be transferred to Paris to carry out an attack in the city.According to the report, the plane arrived from Tehran to Geneva in June 2018, following an Iranian plan to carry out a terrorist attack during a meeting of the Iranian opposition. According to a report based on intelligence sources, the attack was supposed to be carried out by an Iranian intelligence official who worked at the Iranian embassy in Austria since 2014, but French intelligence thwarted the attack after the authorities arrested a Belgian couple of Iranian origin who had the explosives in their car on their way to Paris.A Western intelligence source said the intelligence official visited Tehran on July 20, 2018, where he received TATP explosives. On June 22, he transferred explosives in a civilian plane from Tehran to Austria on flight OS872, when the material was delivered in a diplomatic suitcase aboard the Airbus A320. The plane had 240 passengers.The source added that the transfer of the explosives into a civilian plane constitutes a clear and blatant blow to all international treaties related to security in international aviation, for if it enters into strong pockets of air, the plane would explode in the air. The source referred to the Russian plane that exploded shortly after taking off from the Sharm el-Sheikh airport in Egypt three years ago, and all 244 passengers aboard were killed by an explosive charge weighing half a kilogram of TNT.According to the intelligence source, the material seized by the Belgian couple in Iran and its transfer to a terrorist attack on a civilian plane is a dangerous violation of international conventions. According to the source, Iran frequently uses civilian aircraft and civilian airlines to transport explosives, weapons and ballistic missiles, as well as funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world.
