Man arrested in Paris after Iran consulate incident

French police have arrested a man who had threatened to blow himself up at Iran’s consulate in Paris.

A police source had told Reuters the man was seen at about 11am local time on Friday entering the consulate, carrying what appeared to be a grenade and explosive vest. Police cordoned off the area.

The man later left the consulate and on being searched was found not to be carrying any explosives, a police source said.

Le Parisien newspaper said on its website that, according to several witnesses, the man had dragged flags on the floor of the consulate and said he wanted to avenge the death of his brother.

It was unclear whether the incident had any link to current tensions between Iran and Israel.

Earlier on Friday, explosions echoed over the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation – a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.