The organizers of the Leipzig Book Fair have canceled the Islamic Center Hamburg as an exhibitor for this year’s fair. “According to the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) is closely linked to the Iranian regime and supports its actions that violate human rights. For this reason, we have today rejected the registration of the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) for the Leipzig Book Fair,” said the fair on Twitter. The book fair stands for freedom and human rights and stands up for women’s rights. “We underline this attitude with our events,” it said.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth welcomed the decision. “The organizers decide which stands are approved for the fair,” said the Greens politician in Berlin. “An organization that is obviously closely linked to the criminal Mullah regime in Iran has no place at the Leipzig Book Fair.”
Members of the Bundestag from the CDU and Greens recently called for the IZH to be closed. This is “a hub for the operations of the Islamic regime of Iran in Germany,” said the chairman of the Union faction in the Foreign Affairs Committee, Roderich Kiesewetter, of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. The Blue Mosque in Hamburg and its members are rightly being watched by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution because they “pose a threat to Iranian opposition figures in Germany”.
According to the Hamburg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the IZH is controlled by Iran and is therefore classified as extremist. The center, which operates the Blue Mosque on the Alster, has been observed by the secret service for years.
CDU politician Kiesewetter said the Union was demanding that the Islamic Center in Hamburg finally be closed. Criminal prosecutions against the members of the center for secret service agent activity should be examined.
The domestic policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Lamya Kaddor, told the newspaper that there were a number of Islamic centers and organizations run by pro-government Iranians in Germany, with the help of which Iran was trying to influence the Shiites of various nationalities living here. Iranians would report attempts at intimidation and harassment. “As far as we know, these findings are available to the responsible authorities.” This means that the conditions for the closure of the center – and thus a ban on the Hamburg association – should be met. “We expect Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to do this in a timely manner.”
