Major Operation in Germany Against Islamic Cells – State Security Breaks into ‘Country’s Most Dangerous Mosque’

German authorities launched a wide-ranging operation on Thursday morning to track down dangerous Islamist cells as threats against Jews, tensions and division over the Israel-Hamas war mount in the country.

According to the German newspaper Bild, the said cores that were dismantled are also allegedly linked to Iran. More than 500 men from the police and state security services raided at least 54 buildings across Germany in various institutions and buildings.

The largest operation took place in Hamburg, where more than 30 targets were investigated with the most important the “Islamic Center Hamburg” (IZH), a mosque-club, which, among others, is said to be connected with the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah which is sponsored by Iran.

According to the Federal Constitution Protection Agency, IZH was founded in 1962 and, together with the Iranian embassy, ​​constitutes Iran’s most important representative in Germany. The activities of the IZH are aimed at spreading Islamic teachings with Shia-Iranian influences in Germany and Europe.

They were also targeted by the authorities five more affiliated groups with IZH. The authorities’ operation, as Bild sources say, was carried out with the aim of finding evidence “to possibly substantiate the suspicions against IZH and its affiliates, but also to shed light on the general structure of the club”.

Secretary of the Interior Nancy Feiser said that the IZH had long been under surveillance by the Federal Service for the Protection of the Constitution and has been characterized as an Islamist organization. According to Bild he has been identified by the authorities as dangerous hotbed of radical Islamism and furthermore the German state plans to ban all clubs and organizations financed by Iran.

“At a time when many Jews feel threatened” Germany “will not tolerate either Islamist propaganda against Israel or anti-Semitic incitement,” Feser stressed.