The police searched 54 properties in seven federal states in connection with investigations against the “Islamic Center Hamburg” (IHZ). The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced this on Thursday morning. The ministry is therefore conducting an investigation against the IHZ, which could result in a ban on the association.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said that the IHZ had been monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for a long time and was classified as Islamist. She said: “Especially now, at a time when many Jews feel particularly threatened, the following applies: We generally do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incitement.”
The center is seen as an extension of the Iranian regime, which congratulated the Islamist Hamas on its attack on Israel and described it as a “turning point in the continuation of armed resistance.” According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the security authorities are also investigating the suspicion that the IHZ supports activities of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah, which is banned from operating in Germany.
Searches also in other federal states
According to the information, objects in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia were searched early in the morning. In a statement from the ministry it was said that the activities of the IZH, which is responsible for the Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, were “aimed at spreading the revolutionary concept of the supreme (Iranian) leaders, which is suspected of being against the constitutional order in Germany and the idea of international understanding”.
According to the ministry, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution not only keeps an eye on the activities in the Hamburg facility, also known as the Blue Mosque, but also assumes that the IZH “exercises great influence on certain mosques and clubs, up to complete control.” An anti-Semitic and anti-Israel attitude is often evident within these circles, the statement said.
