Germany Shuts Islamic Center Serving as Terrorist Outpost
Jul 24, 2024 17:39:06 GMT -5
Post by schwartzie on Jul 24, 2024 17:39:06 GMT -5
Germany Shuts Down Major Islamic Center for Serving as ‘Outpost’ for Iranian Terrorists
Frank BergmanJuly 24, 2024 - 2:04 pm
The German government has shut down a major network of Islamic organizations across the country, including a prominent mosque.
Government officials confirmed that police have raided 54 locations across the country.
The raids are part of an investigation of a Hamburg-based organization suspected of promoting the Iranian leadership’s ideology.
The group is also accused of supporting activities of Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Germany.
The raids included a prominent mosque in Hamburg.
Germany’s Interior Ministry said the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, has long been under observation by the nation’s domestic intelligence agency.
The activities of the IZH are aimed at spreading the “revolutionary concept” of Iran’s supreme leader which is suspected of violating Germany’s constitutional order, the Interior Ministry added.
The German government banned the organization for serving as an “outpost” of Iran’s theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group.
The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five sub-organizations around Germany followed searches in November.
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Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”
The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” Faeser said in a statement.
In addition, Faeser said the IZH and its sub-organizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive anti-Semitism.”
Her ministry said 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.”
The distinctive blue-tiled Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, the group’s most prominent facility, was among the properties raided by police early Wednesday.
There were also raids in Berlin and six other German states.
The IZH has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
In its annual report for 2023, the intel agency described the IZH as Iran’s most important representative in Germany besides the country’s embassy.
It said there were no reliable figures for members or supporters of the group, founded in 1962.
There have been calls for it to be banned for years, however.
Because of the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be closed, the Interior Ministry said.
The IZH’s assets are also being confiscated.
There are an estimated 150 to 200 Shiite congregations in Germany, according to the ministry.
The ministry stressed that it wasn’t acting against a religion.
The IZH said last fall that it “condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”
The Interior Ministry said that, while the group tries to present itself as a tolerant and purely religious organization without political ties or a political agenda, “investigations have confirmed without a doubt that the IZH’s activities are not simply religious in nature.”
The government argues that the group’s purpose and activities are opposed to Germany’s constitutional order.
The top regional security official in Hamburg, Andy Grote, declared that the group is now “history.”
He said that “the closure of this outpost of the inhuman Iranian regime is a really effective hit against Islamic extremism.”
Germany’s main Jewish organization welcomed the ban.
In a statement, Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews, said:
“Iran’s mullah regime and its proxies are in position worldwide – their aim is the destruction of democracy and our way of living.”
The Hezbollah terrorist group is banned in Germany.
The Iranian-backed group and Israel have been trading near-daily exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza broke out in October.
link
Frank BergmanJuly 24, 2024 - 2:04 pm
The German government has shut down a major network of Islamic organizations across the country, including a prominent mosque.
Government officials confirmed that police have raided 54 locations across the country.
The raids are part of an investigation of a Hamburg-based organization suspected of promoting the Iranian leadership’s ideology.
The group is also accused of supporting activities of Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Germany.
The raids included a prominent mosque in Hamburg.
Germany’s Interior Ministry said the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, has long been under observation by the nation’s domestic intelligence agency.
The activities of the IZH are aimed at spreading the “revolutionary concept” of Iran’s supreme leader which is suspected of violating Germany’s constitutional order, the Interior Ministry added.
The German government banned the organization for serving as an “outpost” of Iran’s theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group.
The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five sub-organizations around Germany followed searches in November.
- Stock up on real all-American beef and get 15% off today with promo code: CLEANCOWS -
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”
The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” Faeser said in a statement.
In addition, Faeser said the IZH and its sub-organizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive anti-Semitism.”
Her ministry said 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.”
The distinctive blue-tiled Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, the group’s most prominent facility, was among the properties raided by police early Wednesday.
There were also raids in Berlin and six other German states.
The IZH has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
In its annual report for 2023, the intel agency described the IZH as Iran’s most important representative in Germany besides the country’s embassy.
It said there were no reliable figures for members or supporters of the group, founded in 1962.
There have been calls for it to be banned for years, however.
Because of the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be closed, the Interior Ministry said.
The IZH’s assets are also being confiscated.
There are an estimated 150 to 200 Shiite congregations in Germany, according to the ministry.
The ministry stressed that it wasn’t acting against a religion.
The IZH said last fall that it “condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”
The Interior Ministry said that, while the group tries to present itself as a tolerant and purely religious organization without political ties or a political agenda, “investigations have confirmed without a doubt that the IZH’s activities are not simply religious in nature.”
The government argues that the group’s purpose and activities are opposed to Germany’s constitutional order.
The top regional security official in Hamburg, Andy Grote, declared that the group is now “history.”
He said that “the closure of this outpost of the inhuman Iranian regime is a really effective hit against Islamic extremism.”
Germany’s main Jewish organization welcomed the ban.
In a statement, Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews, said:
“Iran’s mullah regime and its proxies are in position worldwide – their aim is the destruction of democracy and our way of living.”
The Hezbollah terrorist group is banned in Germany.
The Iranian-backed group and Israel have been trading near-daily exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza broke out in October.
link
