The German Interior Ministry on Wednesday said it had banned the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) for pursuing radical Islamist goals and acting as representative of the government regime in Iran.
“Today we banned the ‘Islamic Center Hamburg,’ which propagates an Islamist, totalitarian ideology. It supports the terrorists of ‘Hizb Allah’ and spreads aggressive antisemitism,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced on X. The latter reference is to the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group Hezbollah.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that searches have been taking place since early morning at 53 properties in eight German states. In addition to the Hamburg center, authorities also banned nationwide subgroups in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.
According to the investigation, the IZH was acting as a representative of the Iranian regime and sought to bring the Islamic revolution to Germany.
“The investigations clearly prove that the IZH does not merely act religiously. Rather, as a representative of the Iranian ‘supreme leader,’ it consistently and categorically fulfills the political guideline to be exporting ‘Islamic revolution,’” the statement reads.
Authorities also said the IZH supported and promoted the antisemitic and anti-Israeli stance of the militant group Hezbollah, despite its activities being banned in 2020.
“This Islamist ideology is directed against human dignity, against women’s rights, against an independent judiciary and against our democratic state,” commented Faeser in a press release.
The ban is the result of an investigation by Germany’s intelligence agency, which had been observing the Islamic center in Hamburg for decades.
In November last year, the German police conducted a massive nationwide operation against the IZH and five other associations, during which extensive evidence was seized, according to the Interior Ministry.
“This [evidence] has been evaluated and substantiated suspicions to the extent that the IZH and its suborganizations are banned today,” the statement reads.
Following allegations in November, the IZH said then that it “condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”
The center did not answer the phone Wednesday morning for comment and its website was not accessible to the public.
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