Latest Developments
Berlin shut down the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) due to its ties with Iran and Hezbollah and its promotion of radical Islamism, the German Interior Ministry said on July 24. Acting on a court order, German authorities have begun searching 53 of the IZH’s properties in eight federal states, the ministry said. The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” supports “the terrorists of Hezbollah,” and spreads “aggressive antisemitism,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement. The ministry also noted that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,’ the IZH disseminates the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany.”
Expert Analysis
“When the Islamic Republic speaks of exporting its Islamic Revolution, it means it. The regime disseminates a radical ideology that helps it project power under the auspices of cultural, religious, or diplomatic activity that it would never grant on its own soil. Iran has spent considerable resources over the past four decades to infiltrate states as far away as Germany and Argentina or as close as Iraq and Syria. The closure of the Islamic Center in Hamburg is a first step in the right direction by the West against this network.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD Senior Fellow
“Since its inception, the Islamist regime in Tehran has allocated a significant portion of its resources to establishing a global network of training and recruitment centers, often disguised as cultural centers and mosques. This effort aligns with the regime’s strategy of employing asymmetric warfare by spreading terror and chaos. In the United States, the regime exploits First Amendment protections, immigration laws, religious freedom, and lawfare to infiltrate society and establish influence and terror networks. Washington should focus on these networks, first within the United States and then in the Americas, and take decisive steps to neutralize them.” — Saeed Ghasseminejad, FDD Senior Iran and Financial Economics Advisor
An Extensive Investigation
In November 2023, German authorities raided 55 IZH properties across seven federal states. “We have the Islamist scene in our sights,” Faeser said at the time. “Especially now, at a time when many Jews feel particularly threatened, we generally do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement.” The Interior Ministry also said it suspected that IZH seeks to undermine Germany’s “constitutional order” and supports Hezbollah. The raids produced evidence that formed the basis of the government’s closure of IZH this week. In 2022, Germany expelled IZH’s deputy head, Soleiman Mousavifar, for supporting Hezbollah and other extremist groups. Germany designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2020.
Iran’s Agenda in Germany
Iran has long sought to advance its Islamist agenda in Germany. In 1992, agents of Tehran assassinated three Iranian dissidents and their translator at the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin. More recently, in 2023, a German court sentenced a German-Iranian man to two years and nine months in prison for plotting, with the help of Iran’s regime, to attack a synagogue in the western city of Bochum. In the same year, an Iranian court sentenced Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian national and U.S. resident, to death on false charges; he remains on death row today. In April 2024, Germany warned its citizens to leave Iran due to the risk of arbitrary detention by the clerical regime. In July 2024, German authorities arrested a Lebanese man for his alleged efforts to procure drone parts for Hezbollah.
Source » fdd