Paris, April 2025 — The French judiciary has formally concluded the preliminary phase of its investigation into two coordinated terrorist attacks targeting premises linked to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in June 2023, and has referred the case to the public prosecutor for further legal action. The developments mark a significant step in the ongoing transnational investigation into a wider pattern of Iran-backed terrorism in Europe.
According to legal sources close to the case, the examining magistrate notified NCRI lawyers that investigations into the May 31 and June 11 attacks on NCRI-associated premises in northern Paris have reached sufficient maturity to move the case forward.
In the May 31 incident, two gunmen fired six rounds using a .45 caliber handgun and attempted to set fire to the building housing the CIMA Association. The attackers failed to carry out their full plan but caused significant damage. On June 11, a second group of assailants poured accelerants at the entrance of the same building before fleeing the scene.
Forensic analysis, including fingerprinting, DNA testing, and phone trace analysis led to the identification of a broader network of perpetrators. Five individuals remain in custody while four others are under judicial supervision. A massive police dossier consisting of thousands of pages of documents and photographs has been assembled, with dozens of individuals investigated or interrogated.
The Court of Appeals denied the defense team’s petition for the conditional release of the five suspects who remain jailed, citing substantial evidence of participation in terrorist acts, attempted murder, and deliberate arson. One of the detained suspects admitted during interrogation that he had been hired by a “prominent individual” to carry out the shooting and was paid €5,000 for the job. Another remained silent but admitted to receiving “orders” from a person whose identity he feared revealing.
Judicial findings indicate that the same network is linked to attacks on NCRI offices in Berlin (December 4, 2023) and London (December 5, 2022), as well as the failed assassination attempt against Professor Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament, in Madrid in November 2023.
Investigators have cited significant structural and tactical similarities with earlier plots, including the foiled 2018 bombing of the Iranian opposition gathering in Villepinte and other attempts targeting Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and U.S. dignitaries such as Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Albania. These patterns, authorities believe, point unmistakably to the operational coordination of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and the IRGC’s Quds Force.
According to judicial records, the attackers were recruited from organized criminal networks and paid generously. Threats of death were reportedly issued to the perpetrators by their handlers should they reveal information that could expose the Iranian regime’s involvement.
Prof. @VidalQuadras: Arrested Man Planned to Kill Me at #Iranian Regime’s Behesthttps://t.co/QOMtTGQeK5
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 21, 2024
A spokesperson for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) stated, “This series of terrorist attacks once again demonstrates that the clerical regime is desperate to export its war on the Resistance abroad. But its answer has come, and will continue to come, from inside Iran—from the people and rebellious youth who are rising up against it.”
The case continues to be pursued vigorously by French authorities in coordination with European counterparts, as part of a growing effort to confront the expanding reach of Tehran’s extraterritorial terror campaigns.