Germany is banning the religious association Hamburg Islamic Center. The Interior Ministry believes that the group has close ties to Hezbollah in Lebanon and that its activities aim to spread Iran's supreme leader's "revolutionary concept."
The German police have also carried out raids on about fifty buildings linked to the association, including the so-called Blue Mosque in Hamburg.
In a statement, the ministry writes that it "has banned Hamburg Islamic Center and its affiliated organizations throughout Germany, as it is an Islamist extremist organization striving for anti-constitutional goals."
The group, which was founded in 1953 by Iranian immigrants, is believed to spread anti-Semitism, something that Germany is fighting to stop. Anti-Semitic incidents have increased in Germany since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and the war in Gaza.
Tehran has responded to Germany's actions by summoning the country's ambassador to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
