AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Tehran has strongly slammed Germany's "unjustified" move to ban the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), stressing that the ban is in violations of the fundamental principles of freedom of religion.
"The German authorities' action against IZH, as one of the oldest Islamic centers in Europe that was established by prominent Shia Marja' grand Ayatollah Borujerdi 70 years ago, is unjustified and unwarranted and constitues a grave violation of fundamental rights of freedom of religion and thought," Iran’s interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani wrote in a post published on the social media platform X on Thursday.
The tweet came a day after Germany announced the ban on the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) and its subsidiary organization over alleged “extremism”, after months of pressure on the most prominent Shia centre in Europe.
The Iranian official said the move is "just a gift to extremists, radical elements and supporters of terrorism."
"It is no surprise that the terrorist apartheid regime of Israel that is keen to (ab)use every opportunity for distracting the world public opinion from its continuing genocide of Palestinians, has welcomed German's action against the Blue Mosque," he added.
"Only the German goverment shall be responsible for all the consequences of this unjustified act," Bagheri added.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran, along with the broader Muslim community and Iranians abroad, supports the promotion of Iranian-Islamic thought and civilisation, as well as the protection of the rights of Muslims and Iranians in every part of the world, including Germany," he said.
The announcement came as the German police raided 53 of the organization’s premises early on Wednesday. German police say that acted based on a court order.
The raided premises include centres in cities other than Hamburg, such as Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich.
The German ministry claimed that the centre has been supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement which is banned in Germany.
The German ban will result in the closure of four Shia mosques in the country, including the iconic Imam Ali Mosque which is one of the oldest in Germany completed in 1965.
The Islamic Centre of Hamburg is one of Germany's important and historic Islamic centers, established the support of Ayatollah Boroujerdi.
It has published magazines in German and Persian and provided consulting services for the Shias of Hamburg. The centre also boasts a library with over 6,000 titles on various Islamic and Shia subjects.
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