The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community today banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg e.V. (IZH) and its sub-organisations nationwide, because it is an extremist Islamist organisation which pursues anti-constitutional aims. IZH’s sub-organisations are: the Islamische Akademie Deutschland e.V., the Verein der Förderer einer iranischen-islamischen Moschee in Hamburg e.V., the Zentrum der Islamischen Kultur e.V. in Frankfurt (Main), the Islamische Vereinigung Bayern e.V. in Munich, and the Islamisches Zentrum Berlin e.V. The organisation’s assets are being confiscated. Court-ordered searches of 53 properties in Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria began early this morning to enforce the ban and uncover possible connections to other organisations.

Already on 16 November 2023, 55 properties in seven federal states were searched and extensive evidence was secured. This evidence was subsequently analysed and confirmed suspicions sufficiently to order today’s ban of the IZH and its sub-organisations.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said: "Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany. This Islamist ideology is opposed to human dignity. women’s rights, an independent judiciary and our democratic government. The Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg and its sub-organisations also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism. Following the comprehensive searches in November 2023, our security authorities carefully analysed the seized material. The evidence gathered in these very difficult and time-consuming investigations confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today. With this ban, we have put a stop to the activities of these Islamist extremists. This is another serious blow to Islamist extremism.”

“I want to make it very clear: We are not taking action against a religion. We are drawing a clear distinction between the Islamist extremists that we are cracking down on and the many Muslims who belong to our country and live according to their faith. This ban absolutely does not apply to the peaceful practice of the Shiite religion."

The Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg e.V. is an organisation which operates nationwide. Its purpose and activity are opposed to the constitutional order set out in the Basic Law and to the concept of international understanding. Its purpose and activity also contravene criminal law and conflict with the Federal Republic of Germany’s obligations under international law. Furthermore, the IZH supports activities outside of the federal territory, the aims or means of which are incompatible with the fundamental values of a system of government which respects the dignity of the individual (see Article 9 (2) of the Basic Law in conjunction with section 3 (1) sentence 1 and section 14 (2) nos. 2 and 3 of the Act Governing Private Associations).

As the direct representative of Iran’s “Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution”, the IZH disseminates the ideology of the “Islamic Revolution” in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany. The IZH and its sub-organisations want to establish authoritarian, theocratic rule in place of a society based on the free and democratic constitutional order protected by the Basic Law. The IZH also promotes aggressive antisemitism among its followers. And it supports the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, which has been banned from all activity in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In doing so, the IZH operates in a highly conspiratorial manner. It strives to present itself as a tolerant and purely religious organisation which has no political ties or agenda. In fact, however, investigations have confirmed without a doubt that the IZH’s activities are not simply religious in nature. On the contrary, as the representative of the “Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution”, the IZH is working to fulfil the political mission of exporting the “Islamic Revolution” thoroughly and categorically. The IZH and its top executive have been explicitly commissioned by the “Supreme Leader” to “intensively and steadfastly advocate the fundamental principles of the Revolution without compromise”. Human rights and democracy are seen as nothing but a front for suppressing efforts to promote the “Islamic Revolution”. The IZH seeks to establish a society outside of the free and democratic constitutional system which, for example, would have no free elections, no protection for minorities and no separation of powers, and its justice system would be based on religious law.

Furthermore, various activities of the IZH show that it supports and promotes the military and political dimension of the “Axis of Resistance”, in particular the alliance with the Hezbollah terrorist organisation. The IZH does so with the full awareness of Hezbollah’s ideology and objectives, in particular its ongoing armed conflict with the State of Israel. Even though Hezbollah’s activities in Germany were banned in 2020, the IZH continues to support and promote the terrorist organisation.

The ban is solely directed at the dissemination of the ideology of the “Islamic Revolution”, which is opposed to democracy and the rule of law. This ban absolutely does not apply to the practice of Shiite beliefs and religion. That is why the practice of religion is not the subject of the justification for the ban.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community orders bans solely based on an expert assessment of threats. Religion and religious affiliation as such play no role in these threat assessments. The decision to issue a ban is based on an organisation’s concrete actions and public presence. Sunni-oriented and Shiite-oriented Islamist extremist organisations have both been banned in the past. A list of these organisations can be found in the annex to the annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution. As a result of the ban on the IZH, four Shiite mosques will be closed. There are an estimated 150 to 200 Shiite congregations in Germany.

The searches today were planned and/or are being carried out with the help of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Federal Police and the police forces and domestic intelligence services of the relevant federal states.