Islamist-extremist, Totalitarian Ideology in Germany

"[The IZH -- Islamic Center Hamburg --] promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany."

"[It and its suborganizations] also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism."

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser

 

"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." 

German Interior Ministry statement

A German police officer stands outside the Imam Ali mosque on July 24, AP

 Police in Germany were authorized to raid 53 properties around the country affiliated with the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) along with five suborganizations scattered about Germany. The move follows searches that took place in November. The organization is now banned, accused of representing an "outpost" of Iran's theocratic government. Its purpose is to promote the Republic's leadership ideology of extreme Shiite Islamism.

Evidence gathered in the investigation, according to Interior Minister Faeser, "confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today". The blue-tiled Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg -- the group's most prominent structure -- was one amidst the various Islamic Center Hamburg properties police raided early on Wednesday. Raids also took place in Berlin, along with six other German states.

It cannot be much of a mystery that the Islamic Republic of Iran has infiltrated Germany to such a degree. Turkey's Erdogan has also financed the building of many mosques as well in Germany, to serve the needs of the country's large Turkish-German population, originally brought to Germany as a labour force. That population is one that President Erdogan sees as one of his constituencies. 

 

Germany had a very large Muslim population even before it accepted a million migrants that had entered Europe in 2015. The result is a proliferation of mosques and a Muslim demographic that has its own ideas of religion and the law that applies, favouring Sharia over the German system of justice. The large presence of Muslims also gives countries like Iran and Turkey an influence on that demographic not necessarily to Germany's credit.

 

Germany bans Hamburg-based Islamic organization for supporting Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah  Anadolu Agency

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has long held the IZH under observation. In its annual report for 2023 it outright stated that it represents Iran's most important representative in Germany aside from the country's embassy. The group, founded in 1962, claims to have no reliable figures for the number of their members or supporters. Calls for the group to be banned in Germany surfaced years ago, but there was never any conclusive action.

 

Hans-Udo Muzel, Germany's ambassador to Tehran, was summoned by Iran's Foreign Ministry for a sound rebuke, in response to the mosque closure and the raids on other mosques affiliated with the Islamic Center Hamburg. 

German Police officers stage outside the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali mosque on 24 July, AP