The German government has shut down the Islamic Center of Hamburg and its affiliated organizations across the European country over what it claimed to be propagating extremism and Islamic ideology.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement on Wednesday that the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) would be banned for “pursuing radical Islamist objectives,” and that its famous ‘Blue Mosque’ was being searched by police.

The Imam Ali Mosque, known locally as the Blue Mosque, is one of Germany’s oldest mosques and is operated by the IZH.

Faeser accused the IZH and its affiliated organizations of undermining the German state and promoting an “Islamist-extremist ideology opposed to human dignity, women’s rights, an independent judiciary, and democratic governance.”

The statement also accused the IZH of spreading revolutionary ideas “in an aggressive and militant manner.”

The Interior Ministry said 53 properties associated with the IZH were searched across eight German states early Wednesday following a court order, and four mosques were shut.

The ban also extends to the IZH’s subgroups in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin.

Last year, the Interior Ministry accused the IZH of “acting against constitutional order,” and of supporting Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah, which Germany designated as a “terrorist” organization in 2020.

Hezbollah fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, forcing a humiliating retreat upon the Tel Aviv regime’s military in both cases.

The resistance movement has vowed to resolutely defend Lebanon in case of any other Israeli-imposed warfare.

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