Calls for closing down Islamic Centre in Hamburg
Germany has recently seen calls for
the closure of the Islamic Centre in Hamburg, amid accusations that the centre
works to serve Iranian policies.
The German government intends to
verify whether the Shiite centre in Hamburg is a propaganda base for the
Iranian government, by identifying the nature of its activities and the
individuals based in it.
The Union of Shiite Communities in
Germany pushes for supporting the centre and defending its position.
The members of the union claim that
accusations levelled against the Islamic Centre in Hamburg are baseless.
It should be noted that the internal
German intelligence service known as the Constitutional Protection Authority,
in the state of Hamburg, has been monitoring the activities and the events of
the Islamic Centre in Hamburg for a long time now.
Based on this constant monitoring,
the intelligence came to the conclusion that this centre is affiliated with the
Iranian regime and also supports extremism.
This issue has received great media
attention in the light of recent protests in Iran, since the death of a Kurdish
woman who was tortured by the morality police.
The issue of the Shiite Islamic
Centre in Hamburg escalated. It was touched upon by German MPs in the light of
the government taking a tougher political stance against the Iranian regime and
reviewing Berlin's policy towards Tehran.
The German parliament has accepted
an official request from the parties of the ruling coalition to discuss the
closure of this Shiite centre.
Deputies from the Social Democratic
Party, the Free Democratic Party and the Green Party have submitted a request
to the federal government to consider the possibility of closing the Hamburg
Shiite centre due to its ties with the Iranian regime.
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said
his country supports the imposition of more sanctions against the Iranian
regime in Tehran.
He criticized Iranian authorities
for their practices against their people, stressing that Germany would support
further European sanctions against Tehran.
Earlier this month, the Hamburg
state interior minister said those who support terrorist organizations or
financiers of terrorism pose a serious threat to German security.
The same people, he added, have no
place in Germany.
According to German media, Suleiman
Musaifar, deputy head of the Shiite Islamic Centre, is suspected of supporting
a terrorist organization, and having links with two fundraising organizations
for the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah.
The leader of the German Green Party
demanded the closure of the Shiite Islamic Centre several months ago,
describing it as the most important espionage den of the Iranian regime inside
Germany.
