German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) would be banned for promoting extremism, and the famous “Blue Mosque” was being searched by police.
“It is very important to me to make a clear distinction here: we are not acting against a religion,” Faeser said, emphasizing that the action was against a group accused of undermining the German state and women’s rights.
The Imam Ali Mosque, known locally as the Blue Mosque, is one of Germany’s oldest mosques and is operated by the IZH. The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador over the ban, as reported by Iranian state news agency IRNA.
The IZH is seen as an extension of the Iranian regime in Germany and is believed to have significant influence over some mosques and associations, according to Germany’s domestic intelligence services.
Faeser stated that the IZH was being investigated for “spreading aggressive antisemitism,” and that raids in November proved connections to Hezbollah, leading to the ban.
The Interior Ministry announced that it “banned the Hamburg Islamic Centre and its affiliated organizations throughout Germany to date, as it is an Islamist extremist organization pursuing anti-constitutional objectives.” The ministry accused the IZH of spreading Iranian revolutionary ideas “in an aggressive and militant manner.”
53 properties linked to the IZH were searched, and there had been calls for years from Hamburg residents to investigate the group. Affiliated institutions in various federal states were also being investigated, and four mosques were shut down.
In 2020, Germany banned Hezbollah and its activities on German soil, and last year, the Interior Ministry said the IZH was suspected of “acting against constitutional order” and “supporting [the] terror organization Hezbollah.”