Five weeks after banning the Hamburg Islamic Center (IZH) for alleged extremist activities, German authorities have ordered its former head to leave the country.
The Hamburg Interior Authority issued a deportation order this week to 57-year-old Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, a spokeswoman in Hamburg said on Thursday, according to DPA.
The order instructs Mofatteh to depart Germany within 14 days, by September 11, 2024, or face deportation to his country of origin at his own expense. He is also banned from re-entering or staying in Germany, with violations punishable by up to three years in prison.
#BREAKING: German government has ordered Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, head of #Hamburg's Islamic Center to leave #Germany by September 11. This Islamic center of the #Iranian regime was recently closed by the German police over its use for terrorist and espionage activities of #IRGC. pic.twitter.com/X2o7O3dMEf
— Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) August 29, 2024
Mofatteh had led the IZH since the summer of 2018. According to findings from Hamburg's domestic intelligence agency, officially known as the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, he was considered the official representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Germany until recently.
Hamburg's Interior Senator Andy Grote said the deportation order following the IZH ban was the next consistent step by authorities. "As the highest religious representative of the inhumane regime in Tehran, his time in Germany is over. We will continue to fight Islamic extremism with full force and utilize all means of residency law to do so."
