A French slap to Iran: The closure of Zahra Shiite center and freezing of its funds

 
Written by Ali Rajab
 
A few weeks after the French authorities investigated the activity of the Shiite center of Zahra, Iran's most prominent political, social and cultural center inside France, the government of French President Emmanuel Macron officially decided to close the six-month-old center in addition to freeze its assets, on charges of spreading radical Shiite thought at the European level, according to the French newspaper «lci».

Al-Zahra Center:

The project of establishing the Zahra center began in the region of Grand Saint in northern France in 2005 according to the French newspaper la-croix, which referred to the association's links with Iran, Hezbollah and other groups close to Iran.
The center was founded by Yahya al-Qawasmi, head of a party against Zionism and president of the French Shiite Alliance. He is of French nationality and an Algerian origin as well as an active Shiite who has extensive ties with Iranian officials.

Iranian official and cleric Mehdi Rouhani, who served as head of the Shiite community for 20 years, played an important role in the establishment of the Iranian Islamic Center in Paris, which became an instrument for spreading the ideology of the Islamic Republic.

France has about 300,000 Shiites, about half of whom are in the capital Paris and its suburbs, while the other half are distributed to other French regions, the most important cities and suburbs of Lyon, Toulouse, Montpellier, Lille, Marseille and Guernsey, according to Radio Monte Carlo. This makes them strategic target for the Iranian regime which is seeking to have its own cells according to the reports of the Iranian opposition, the People's Mujahideen, which accused the mullahs' regime of seeking to form terrorist cells by recruiting Shiites in European countries.

The center condemns the state of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and follows the mandate of the Iranian jurist, and is therefore classified by the French authorities as spreading radical Shiite ideology.

Objectives of the Center:

According to the official website of Al-Zahra Center, the aim of establishing the center is to serve the interests of Tehran by preaching the Twelver Shi'ism, spreading their doctrines, introducing the universal spirit of the message of Prophet Mohamed and his companions and family within French society, participating in publishing books, contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Center and resulting in the creation of strong influence of Iran in France.

The main institutions of the Center:

The Zahra Association has many affiliated institutions, notably the "Party Against Zionism" founded by Yahya al-Qawasmi in 2009 and the political arm of the Center as well as the French Shia Union, one of the institutions run by Yahya al-Qawasmi, and plays a role in Shiite gatherings in France.
According to the official website of Al-Zahra Center, it contains a number of media releases, including France Marianne TV. The center's channel has a YouTube audience of 8700 and regularly broadcasts speeches by Sheikh Jamal Tahiri, educated in the Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold of Bekaa. It also has Al-Zahraa Radio, as well as the official website of the Center and the anti-Zionist party, all of which have frozen their funds for six months as of 2 October.

Head of the Center:

Yahya al-Qawasmi is the head of the Zahra Center. He is also the head of a party opposing Zionism and the president of the French Shiite alliance. He is one of the most prominent French Shiites close to the Iranian regime. He believes in the role of the Khamenei regime and has expanded relations with Hezbollah as Hassan Qawasmi visited Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in January 2010 and reviewed the situation of Muslims in France as well as the situation of the Muslim communities there and the activities carried out by the party against Zionism at the French national level.

Al-Qawasmi also has extensive relations with the French Communist Party and the French politician Alain Surreal. In 2009, he participated in the European elections with a list that included the controversial dissident of the Communist Party, as well as the French anti-Zionist comedian Diodoni Mbala, due to his anti-Semitic positions.
Many Iranian reports describe him as the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in France, which gives him considerable mobility in Shiite circles in European and Islamic countries, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.