1985–86 Paris attacks

From 1985 to 1986, Paris, France, experienced a sequence of terrorist assaults orchestrated by the Committee for Solidarity With Arab and Middle Eastern Political Prisoners (CSPPA). This group demanded the liberation of three detained international militants. Initially believed to comprise Palestinians, Armenian nationalists, and Lebanese Marxists, subsequent investigations connected the CSPPA to Hezbollah operatives backed by Iran. Their demands focused on freeing Anis Naccache (linked to an Iranian network), Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions), and Varadjian Garbidjan (associated with the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia).

In 1987, counter-terrorism officials from the Direction de la surveillance du territoire (DST) identified Fouad Saleh, a Tunisian who had converted to Shia Islam, as the head of an 18-member cell controlled by Hezbollah from Beirut. Court proceedings indicated that Iran ordered these attacks primarily to pressure France into ceasing arms sales to Iraq amid the Iran–Iraq War, rather than solely to secure the release of prisoners.

Between December 1985 and September 1986, thirteen bombings struck various locations throughout Paris, resulting in 20 fatalities—including seven who succumbed later to injuries—and causing injuries to 255 individuals.

Background

In 1984, authorities apprehended members of an Islamic Jihad Organization tied to Hezbollah who were plotting bombings targeting a plane at Zürich Airport and the U.S. embassy in Rome. The following year saw several attacks attributed to this group: the El Descanso bombing in Madrid that killed eighteen and injured 82, the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 originating from Athens, and bombings in Copenhagen that caused one death and injured 22.

France’s response to Middle Eastern terrorism within Europe involved adopting a "sanctuary doctrine," which permitted transnational terrorist groups to operate on French soil provided they refrained from attacking French interests. Early in 1985, a wave of bombings commenced in Paris targeting locations such as a Marks & Spencer store and the Jewish Rivoli Beaubourg cinema.

Overview

December 1985 witnessed two bombings on the same day following attacks by Communist Combatant Cells in Belgium and near Paris, as well as a courthouse bombing in Liège. Although initially suspected to be connected, these incidents were ultimately found unrelated.

After three bombings took place in February 1986, Paris saw a substantial increase in police presence. On 20 March 1986, shortly after Jacques Chirac was appointed French Prime Minister while serving as Mayor of Paris, a bomb detonated killing two people. In response, Chirac intensified public security measures and pledged stringent anti-terror policies while simultaneously pursuing a policy of "normalisation" with Iran and Syria.

Despite early signs of improvement, September 1986 marked a resurgence of bombings at an unprecedented intensity that nearly brought Paris to a standstill. Authorities deployed fifteen riot police units to bolster security amid over one hundred bomb threat reports investigated during this period.

Attacks

• On 7 December 1985, explosions at the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores injured 43 individuals. Responsibility was also claimed by (ASALA).
• On 3 February 1986, a bomb detonated within a shopping arcade on the Champs-Élysées, wounding eight people; another device was defused at the Eiffel Tower that same day.
• On 4 February 1986, an explosive went off in the basement record section of Gibert Jeune bookstore located at Place Saint-Michel, injuring four and sparking a significant fire.
• On 5 February 1986, a bomb exploded inside a Fnac book and record store within the Forum des Halles underground complex, causing injuries to nine.
• On 17 March 1986, an explosion occurred aboard the TGV high-speed train traveling between Paris and Lyon, injuring nine passengers.
• On 20 March 1986, a bomb detonated in the Point-Show shopping arcade on the Champs-Élysées resulting in two deaths and wounding 28; another device was defused on a RER commuter train that day.
• On 4 September 1986, authorities discovered a bomb inside an RER train carriage at Gare de Lyon.
• On 8 September 1986, an explosion at the post office within Paris City Hall caused one fatality and injured eighteen.
• On 12 September 1986, a bomb detonated in the cafeteria of Casino supermarket located in La Défense's Quatre Temps shopping center, injuring fifty-four people.
• On 14 September 1986, an explosive device went off at Pub-Renault café on the Champs-Élysées killing two police officers.
• On 15 September 1986, an explosion inside the Paris Police Prefecture resulted in one death and caused injuries to fifty-six others.
• The deadliest attack occurred on 17 September 1986, when a bomb thrown onto rue de Rennes shopping street killed seven people and wounded sixty.

Investigation

At the time, the CSPPA (Comité de solidarité avec les prisonniers politiques arabes et du Proche-Orient) was an enigmatic organization. A French defector alleged that the attacks received indirect backing from Iran, Syria, and Libya—countries each experiencing tense diplomatic relations with France. Among the detainees’ demands was the release of Anis Naccache, who had been convicted for attempting to assassinate former pre-Revolution Iranian Prime Minister Shapur Bakhtiar. Far-left militant groups from Armenia and Lebanon were also considered suspects.

Authorities linked ASALA to the events after CSPPA called for freeing Varoujan Garbidjian, incarcerated for the 1983 Orly Airport bombing. In October 1986, Vahran Vahrania, ASALA’s spokesperson, warned of further attacks unless Middle Eastern prisoners were liberated. ASALA later accepted partial responsibility for the Paris assaults in September 1986.

Jacques Chirac held the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (FARL) accountable, citing the imprisonment of their member Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. Conversely, other parties, including Syria, associated the incidents with the ongoing Iran–Iraq War. Subsequent investigations revealed only tenuous connections between CSPPA and FARL, identifying Iran as the principal sponsor. This Iranian involvement led some analysts to interpret the attacks as having a Shia Islamic terrorism component. Probes into hijackings such as TWA Flight 847 and Air Afrique Flight 56 implicated Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported Lebanese militia.

In early 1987, following Mohammed Ali Hammadi’s capture in West Germany, French DST uncovered Fouad Ali Saleh as the head of an 18-person terrorist cell directed by Hezbollah responsible for these attacks. Saleh’s faction collaborated with Tunisian operatives linked to Hezbollah who orchestrated significant bombings including those targeting the U.S. embassy in 1983 and Beirut military barracks.

Arrests and convictions

After the bombing at Paris City Hall in September 1986, twelve individuals of Arab descent—primarily Tunisians—were detained and expelled from France. A police operation in March 1987 resulted in the arrest of Saleh along with seven others: two Lebanese French nationals and five Tunisians, one being a nephew of Hezbollah leader Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin. Authorities confiscated two automatic pistols, ammunition, and methyl nitrate during this crackdown.

Saleh was formally charged by a specialized anti-terrorism tribunal in November 1987 and convicted in 1992 on counts including murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy, receiving a life sentence. Originally a Sunni Tunisian who converted to Shia Islam and studied at seminaries in Qom during the early 1980s, Saleh began preaching both publicly and privately before being recruited by Hezbollah operatives. At his trial, he portrayed himself as "a fighter committed to the Islamic cause," drawing parallels to Joan of Arc and citing philosopher Julius Evola. His defense was led by Jacques Vergès.

Aftermath

In September 1986, reports indicated that the French government reached an agreement with Syria to halt its backing of terrorist activities in France, in return for French military equipment, economic support, and diplomatic cooperation. A comparable arrangement was established with Iran the following year.

After the Saleh group's arrest in 1987, Tunisia severed diplomatic relations with Iran, accusing it of recruiting Tunisians for terrorist operations. Initially, France attributed the 1986 bombings to Iran’s instigation and its support for North African militant groups, which caused a diplomatic fallout and led to broken ties. Subsequently, France permitted Wahid Gordji—who was wanted regarding the Paris bombings—to exit the Iranian embassy in exchange for freeing two French hostages held by Hezbollah in Beirut. This decision drew criticism from the United Kingdom and the United States, who warned it created a "dangerous precedent." Following additional French measures such as expelling Iranian opposition figures, the attacks came to an end.

The incidents in 1986 triggered major reforms within French counter-terrorism frameworks and legislative measures. In Belgium, these events initiated police inquiries into political Islam and resulted in establishing a specialized division for Islamic radicalism within Brussels Gendarmerie’s anti-terror unit.

After these attacks, France experienced a period of relative tranquility regarding international terrorism that lasted eight years until a series of assaults were carried out by Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group (GIA).

See also

• List of Islamist terrorist attacks