Germany bans group accused of Iran links and showcasing Hezbollah support

The German government on Wednesday banned a Hamburg-based organisation accused of promoting the Iranian leadership's ideology and supporting Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, as police raided 53 properties around the country.

The ban on the Islamic Centre Hamburg, or IZH, and its various sub-organisations elsewhere in Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said material gathered in the investigation confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.

The IZH promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany, while it and its sub-organisations also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism, Faeser said in a statement.

Her ministry alleged that 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 group, which runs a mosque in Hamburg, has long been under observation by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. The IZH said last fall that it condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.

The Interior Ministry said that because of the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be closed. The IZH's assets are also being confiscated.