After years of investigation, the German Interior Ministry on Wednesday banned the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) on suspicion that it was a terminal for the Iranian regime on European soil. The activities of this religious and cultural association are prohibited, as are those of its subsidiaries, because it is “an extremist Islamist organisation” that pursues unconstitutional objectives, the German government said in a statement.
The Islamic centre, one of the most influential in Germany, has been under surveillance for years because of its alleged links with Iran. After analysing the documents that the police collected in a raid months ago, the Interior Ministry says it has evidence that the association supports the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah. This group is banned in Germany, where it is considered a terrorist organisation.
“Today we have banned the Islamic Centre Hamburg, which propagates an Islamist and totalitarian ideology in Germany,” said the Social Democrat Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. “This Islamist ideology is directed against human dignity, against women’s rights, against an independent judiciary and against our democratic state,” she said on her official account on the social network X. She added that the organisation also spreads “aggressive anti-Semitism.”
Wir haben heute das „Islamische Zentrum Hamburg“ verboten, das eine islamistische, totalitäre Ideologie propagiert. It is unterstützt die Terroristen der „Hizb Allah“ and verbreitet aggressiven Antisemitism. Dem Treiben dieser Islamisten haben wir damit ein Ende gesetzt. https://t.co/MTNAXAGWO7
— Nancy Faeser (@NancyFaeser) July 24, 2024
The Interior Ministry also reported that 53 properties in eight German federal states have been searched since early this morning, where officers have seized evidence and confiscated property. In addition to the organisation’s headquarters in Hamburg, the authorities have outlawed national subgroups in Frankfurt (the Centre for Islamic Culture), Munich (the Islamic Association of Bavaria) and Berlin (Islamic Centre).
According to the investigation, the IZH acted as a representative of the Iranian regime and intended to bring the Islamic revolution to Germany. “The investigations clearly show that the IZH does not act only religiously, but as a representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader, systematically and categorically fulfilling the political directive of exporting the Islamic revolution,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
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Faeser wanted to make it clear that Germany is not acting “against a religion”, but rather wants to clearly distinguish between “the Islamists”, against whom it is acting “harshly”, and “the many Muslims” who belong to Germany and live their faith in the country. The conservative opposition had been pressuring Faeser for months to take action against radical Islamist organisations, especially after the murder of a policeman in Mannheim sparked the migration debate just before the European elections in June. The conservatives had called for the IZH to be outlawed and also pointed to movements such as Muslim Interaktiv, whose supporters “marched through Hamburg praising the caliphate”, according to the opposition leader, the conservative Friedrich Merz (CDU).
In November, German police carried out a major operation in several federal states against the IZH and five other associations, during which they seized a lot of evidence, according to the ministry headed by Faeser. These clues “have been evaluated and have confirmed the suspicions to the point that the IZH and its sub-organisations are now banned,” the statement added. The IZH declared after the raid that it condemned “all forms of violence and extremism” and that it “has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”
The centre’s website has already been disabled. The Interior Ministry believes that the centre has acted “in an extremely conspiratorial manner” because it “wants to give the impression to the outside world that it is a tolerant and purely religious organisation, without any kind of political agenda or affiliation.” After learning of the operation, the Iranian government has summoned the German ambassador, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran.
The decision by Olaf Scholz’s government has been welcomed by most parties, including the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU). “The Islamic Centre in Hamburg has been the Iranian regime’s spy nest for too long,” Green Party leader Omid Nouripour told the DPA news agency. “It is good that this is finally over,” he added. The secretary general of the liberal FDP, Bijan Djir-Sarai, called the decision “late.” The IZH “has been spreading anti-democratic propaganda and incitement against dissidents on behalf of the Iranian leadership for years,” he also told DPA. The authorities, he added, must “take even more decisive measures against the supporters of Islamist terror and hatred.”
The ban was also welcomed by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Its president, Josef Schuster, said the decision was “consistent”: “The Iranian mullah regime and its proxies are positioning themselves around the world. Their goal is to destroy our democracy and our way of life.” “At a time when our open society is threatened from within and from without, we must work together to defend our democracy and everything it stands for,” he added.
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