Iran summons German ambassador, furious over Islamic center closure

A correspondent in Tehran

Jul 24, 2024

A police officer is seen in front of the Blue Mosque, housing the Islamic Centre of Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 24, 2024. — A police officer is seen in front of the Blue Mosque, housing the Islamic Centre of Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 24, 2024, after a ban by the German Interior Ministry following several months of investigations over its alleged support for Lebanon's Hezbollah group and its links to Iran. — STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

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TEHRAN — Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador to Tehran Hans-Udo Muzel on Wednesday, hours after his government closed the Iran-linked Islamic Center of Hamburg and all of its affiliated properties across the country.

According to a report on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's official website, the envoy was presented with Tehran's "strongest protests" over the "hostile act."

"It is an obvious case of islamophobia," the statement read, arguing that the decision was also in line with "an intentional spread of violence and dictatorship."

A statement on the German Interior Ministry's website declared that while the Islamic Center had claimed to be a purely religious foundation, it had acted as an "Islamist extremist" entity, directly representing Iran's supreme leader in its pursuit to advance an "authoritarian and theocratic rule."