Banned German Islamist center maintained direct ties with Khamenei — report

The head of the Hamburg Islamic Center (IZH) received direct instructions from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, including on how to portray Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the Der Spiegel daily reports, citing a 200-page report by the German Interior Ministry.

According to the report, the center’s head Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh exchanged over 650 messages over WhatsApp with Mehdi Mostafavi, a senior official in Khamenei’s office, between late 2021 and late 2023.

Following October 7, Mostavi told Mofatteh to frame the brutal onslaught as a courageous operation and natural response to Israel’s alleged offenses against the Palestinians.

“The Islamic Resistance had no other means to stop Israel’s crimes… Thanks to the courage of Palestinian youth, the Zionist regime will never be the same,” a message cited by Der Spiegel reads.

In addition to spreading Tehran’s narratives and ideology, the report also says German police found documents suggesting the Islamic center acted as a funding pipeline to proxy militias, citing financial endorsements for operations in Yemen with Khamenei’s personal seal.

A senior Hezbollah cleric who oversees the terror group’s foreign relations also visited the center multiple times, thanking the center for “financial, spiritual and advisory support,” according to the report.

Germany banned the IZH and its subsidiary organizations for pursuing radical Islamist goals last month.

In a statement, the German Interior Ministry said the IZH had acted as a direct representative of Khamenei and sought to bring about an Islamic revolution in Germany to impose theocratic rule.

Reuters contributed to this report.