Germany raids and shuts down mosque used as pro-Iran centre

Islamic Centre Hamburg accused of spreading Islamist propaganda and supporting Hezbollah

German police closed the Islamic Centre in Hamburg, also known as the Blue Mosque, as part of nationwide raids on Wednesday. AP

Germany has shut down a mosque that intelligence chiefs warned for years was a front for the Iranian regime.

Police occupied the Islamic Centre in Hamburg early on Wednesday as Interior Minister Nancy Faeser banned what she called an extremist propaganda outfit.

Officials said the mosque aimed to export the Iranian revolution and supported Hezbollah, also banned in Germany, as part of a pro-Iran "axis of resistance".

More than 50 properties have been raided across Germany as authorities try to catch the mosque's satellite groups in their net.

"We are not acting against a religion," Ms Faeser said as the ministry announced four Shiite mosques were being shut.

"We are distinguishing clearly between Islamists, on whom we are cracking down, and the many Muslims who belong to our country and practise their faith."

Masked police were patrolling the building in Hamburg, which is nicknamed the Blue Mosque because of the colour of its ornate tiles, and known as the IZH in German.

Germany has for years been urged to shut down the mosque by anti-Iran MPs and activists but has held off until it believes it has a watertight legal case.

Intelligence warnings

As far back as 2017, intelligence services said the Hamburg mosque was the "biggest and most influential centre" of Iranian pro-regime activity in Germany.

Hamburg's own security apparatus, which calls the mosque an "instrument of Tehran", says it has documented its activities for more than 30 years.

They said the mosque conducts Islamic teaching for children in Farsi, Arabic and German and is typically led by a loyal supporter of the Iranian revolution.

"Today, the Islamic Centre Hamburg is history," said Andy Grote, the minister responsible for security in the north German city.

"The closure of this outpost of the contemptuous Iranian regime is a real telling blow against Islamic extremism."

Police raided the mosque in November, amid a crackdown on anti-Semitic agitation following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war.

Authorities now believe they have the evidence to justify the ban, which follows similar moves against Hezbollah in 2020 and supporters of Hamas in 2023.

The national intelligence agency says the mosque's activities are "directed against the constitutional order" in Germany.

It says the centre "directly represents" Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the regime's ideology in an "aggressive and militant way".

"Instead of a society based on the free democratic order protected by the constitution, the IZH promotes the establishment of an authoritarian, theocratic regime," it said.

"In addition, the IZH disseminates an aggressive anti-Semitism among its supporters. Moreover it supports the banned terrorist organisation Hezbollah."

The IZH is suspected of controlling several other mosques and organisations, with raids taking place in Munich and Frankfurt at the opposite end of Germany .

A Centre of Islamic Culture in Frankfurt, an Islamic Association of Bavaria and an Islamic Centre Berlin are among five satellite groups to be shut down.

Several MPs said the ban was overdue. Opposition conservative Christoph de Vries said he had campaigned for it for 10 years.

"I hope this is the start of a determined fight against an advancing Islamism, which will be followed by more bans," which could include the Muslim Brotherhood, he said.