Extremist Islamic Association - After IZH-ban: Police intervention at 30 objects in Hamburg
Besides the seizure of the Blue Mosque at the Alster, numerous other objects in the Hanseatic City were affected by the police measures enforcing the ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH). According to information from the German Press Agency, there were raids in a total of 30 objects of the city.
Further raids took place, according to the Federal Interior Ministry, in Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria. A total of 53 objects were reportedly affected. Besides the Blue Mosque, three other Shia places of worship were to be closed.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had previously banned the IZH and five of its affiliated organizations. The IZH was described in a statement from the ministry as a "significant propaganda center for Iran in Europe." It spread the ideology of the so-called "Islamic Revolution" in Germany aggressively and militantly.
- The police operation extended beyond Hamburg, also affecting mosques in Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony, and other German cities, as reported by the German Press Agency.
- The mosque association connected to the Islamic Center Hamburg in Hamburg was one of the six organizations banned by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser for promoting extremist ideologies.
- Following the seizure of the Blue Mosque at the Alster, police conducted a raid on the mosque association in Hamburg as part of the enforcement action against the Islamic Center Hamburg.
- The German Press Agency reported that the Police operation included the seizure of properties linked to the Islamic Center Hamburg, including the Islamic Center Hamburg's mosque as well as offices in various parts of the city.
- The enforcement action against the Islamic Center Hamburg and its affiliated organizations was a significant response by German authorities to the perceived threat of extremism in Germany's religious communities, as underscored by the police operation and seizure activities.