Paris: Iranian assaults rabbi, son with knife
Father, son attacked near synagogue after morning prayer. Police arrest Iran-born man said to be mentally unstable, looking into possibility assault was of anti-Semitic nature
A rabbi and his son were assaulted with a knife Tuesday morning as they were leaving a synagogue in Paris' ninth arrondissement, French media reported.
Police sources said the assailant, an Iran-born man unfamiliar to authorities, was arrested.
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The father, 49, and son, 17, both sustained minor injuries to their necks. The circumstances behind the assault remain unclear and authorities are looking into the possibility that it was motivated by anti-Semitism.
According to media reports, eye witnesses managed to take control of the assailant and held him until officers arrived on the scene.
According to the French-Jewish news website JSSNews that the assailant walked into the synagogue, yelled Allahu Akbar and then attacked the two men.
The website quoted police sources as saying that the man, a mentally unstable 28-year-old Iranian, had escaped from a psychiatric facility on April 16.
French radio station Europe 1 said he was dressed in hospital clothes.
The attack joins a long line of anti-Semitic incidents noted in France in the past year.
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