Extremist Islamic Association - Islamic Center Hamburg forbidden
The Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) and its affiliated organizations are banned in Germany. In implementation of the order published in the Federal Gazette, the police searched the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) and other buildings in other federal states for the second time in a few months.
Dozens of policemen sealed off the Blue Mosque in Hamburg early in the morning. A German Press Agency reporter began the search of the Shiite place of worship. The Constitutional Protection Agency classifies the association that operates the mosque as extremist and controlled by Iran.
Approximately simultaneously, several policemen stormed the building of a Shiite association in the Berlin district of Neukölln.
The Ministry had already searched 54 objects nationwide in November of the previous year, including the Blue Mosque and dozens of other rooms in the Hanseatic City. Raids took place in Lower Saxony, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Extensive material was seized at that time.
The IZH is considered an important propaganda center of the Iranian regime in Europe. The Hamburg Constitutional Protection Agency has observed it since the early 1990s.
For years, there have been calls for closure. The Bundestag also urged the federal government to examine "whether and how the Islamic Center Hamburg in Germany can be closed as a hub of operations by the Iranian regime." The Hamburg Senate also demanded the closure of the Center.
According to the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the IZH represents the goals of the Islamic Revolution, which are in diametrical opposition to the liberal democratic basic order of the Basic Law. In recent years, the IZH has built up a nationwide contact network, through which it exerts influence on Shiites of various nationalities, as well as Shiite mosques and associations - up to complete control, it was said.
- The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) and its sub-organizations extends beyond Hamburg, affecting buildings in other German federal states as well.
- The execution of the ban resulted in the police seizing extensive material during their search of the Shiite association in Berlin, which they classified as extremist and controlled by Iran.
- German authorities have been monitoring the IZH since the 1990s, viewing it as a significant propaganda center for the Iranian regime in Europe.
- The German Press Agency reported on the police search of the IZH's Blue Mosque in Hamburg, highlighting the constitutional protection concerns surrounding the association.
- The Iranian regime's operations from the IZH have been a subject of concern in Germany, leading to calls for its closure from various political bodies, including the Bundestag and the Hamburg Senate.
- The execution of the ban on the IZH aligns with Germany's commitment to protecting its liberal democratic basic order, as outlined in its Constitution, and safeguarding against external extremist influences.
