Germany bans Muslim association for pursuing radical Islam

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany has banned the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) and its subsidiary organisations for pursuing radical Islamist goals, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, it said the IZH had acted as a direct representative of Iran's Shi'ite Muslim Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and sought to bring about an Islamic revolution in Germany to impose theocratic rule.

The IZH was not available for comment by phone on Wednesday morning, and its website was not accessible to the public.

Iran's foreign ministry said it had summoned the German ambassador in Tehran on Wednesday in protest at the ban.

"Unfortunately what happened in Germany is an example of Islamophobia and is in opposition to the teachings of the Abrahamic faiths," it said on X, referencing Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The ministry said the ban violated freedom of expression and promoted violence and extremism.

Asked about the summoning of the ambassador, a German foreign ministry source said that it was up to the Iranian side to take concrete steps towards improving ties between the two countries that have been downgraded in recent years.

The German interior ministry said 53 of the IZH's premises had been searched early on Wednesday in eight German states by investigators acting on a court order.

In addition to the Hamburg-based IZH, which includes one of the oldest mosques in Germany known for its turquoise exterior, subsidiaries in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin were also banned, with four Shi'ite mosques to be closed, said the ministry.

The interior ministry said evidence from an earlier search of 55 properties conducted in November provided the basis for Wednesday's ban of the IZH, known in German as Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg.

"Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

"This Islamist ideology is opposed to human dignity, women's rights, an independent judiciary and our democratic government."

She said she wanted to make clear "this ban absolutely does not apply to the peaceful practice of the Shi'ite religion".

A 2020 report on Islamic life in Germany said there were about 5.5 million Muslims in Germany's 83 million population.

The interior ministry also accused the IZH of promoting antisemitism and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is also banned in Germany and classified as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Miranda Murray, Thomas Escritt and Elwely Elwelly; editing by Christian Schmollinger, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Heinrich)