Info:
Tehran’s most important Islamic organization in Germany is the Islamic Center in Hamburg (IZH) led by cleric Reza Ramezani who according to government press in Tehran and the German newspaper Bild, “is the representative of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Germany.” The center has also the Imam Ali Mosque at the same location. Islamic Center in Hamburg is controlled by Supreme Leader of Iran and IRGC;
The Islamic center in Hamburg plays a pivotal role in expanding Iranian regime’s influence and promoting its ideology in Germany. In 2009, the center created an umbrella organization called “the Islamic Association of Shiite Congregations in Germany” (IGS). According to Fars News, a news website tied to Iran Revolutionary Guards. “the IGS is largest Shiites organization in Germany with 500.000 members. 152 Mosques and Islamic centers representing muslin immigrants from different countries work with IGS.”;
Each year in February, the Hamburg center and Iranian embassy organize an event at the Center to celebrates the anniversary of Islamic Revolution in Iran and in June organizes a conference commemorating the death anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic in Iran. Imams and clerics of Islamic centers from different European countries participate in the conference to praise Khomeini and Iranian regime’s ideology;
According to UANI:
Pro-Iranian activities in Germany center largely around the Islamic Center of Hamburg (Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, or IZH), an umbrella institution which plays a financial and organizational role in the operation of Shia associations around Germany. The IZH seeks to promote the Islamic Revolution in Germany via “brochures, events, prayers, rallies, and other activities. According to Germany’s intelligence agency, “Towards the outside world, the IZH acts as a mere religious organization that does not include political activities in its direct field of work. … In reality however, IZH spreads the Shiite teachings of Iranian brand, as one of the most active centers of Iranian propaganda in Europe. Its actual task is the ‘subtle propagation’ of an Islamic theocratic State after Iranian example.”. German intelligence agencies allege the IZH is directly controlled by Tehran. Underscoring the IZH’s linkages to Iran, the IZH’s imam and director since 2002 is Ayatollah Reza Ramezani, who German intelligence has labelled Supreme Leader Khamenei’s deputy in Europe and who in 2006 was elected to Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the deliberative body tasked with electing and overseeing the Supreme Leader. Hezbollah members and supporters gather publicly in Berlin for the annual Al Quds Day march, a global initiative of the Iranian regime initiated by Ayatollah Khomeini dedicated to Israel’s destruction. The IZH is involved in the organization of the march, and funds buses of pro-Hezbollah, pro-Iranian regime activists to the event from the Imam Ali mosque in Hamburg, which the IZH operates. Prominent displays of Hezbollah flags and posters of Shia and “resistance axis” leaders, such as Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei, Hassan Nasrallah, and Bashar al-Assad have been a fixture at the Quds Day rallies, although in 2016, the Berlin State Senate agreed to ban Hezbollah flags at the gathering going forward;
Also Known As:
Islamic Centre of Hamburg
ICH
Islamic Center in Hamburg
Country:
Germany
Address:
Hamburg
Person of interests:
Reza Ramezani
Reason for the color:
» Iranian regime’s network of Islamic Centers, seminaries and Mosques in Europe;