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The most dangerous thing is that cooperation between Iranian intelligence and diplomatic missions in Europe, on the one hand, and the mosques and associations that belong to Iran in one way or another, has been tightened.
It should be noted that Iran is exploiting the point of support of European regimes for cultural associations and freedom of belief, thus it is taking advantage of this gap in Western regimes, as it is difficult to differentiate between associations and mosques that support extremist groups. and hostile intelligence agendas, and between freedom of belief that European intelligence agencies are unlikely to target due to community expansion. Shiites there and affiliated centers.
According to exclusive information obtained by the “Al-Arabiya.net” website by the Geneva Study and Research Center, the Unit for the Study of Extremist Groups, Iran’s strategy is divided into 3 main axes, the most delicate of which It seems to be the new strategy that has been widely followed, namely “monitoring, tracking and control”.
This strategy can be summed up in the formation of religious centers directly affiliated with Iran and secret groups whose mission is to monitor and follow the Shiite communities in Europe and the need to control them to the point of death threat.
The German Internal Intelligence Service, “the Office for the Protection of the Constitution” in particular, has monitored this new Iran strategy … which forced it to delve into the sensitivity of the conflict between groups and centers working for Iran and between centers Shiites who are not tied to any foreign agenda and are subject to all European laws.
Among these centers affiliated with Iran: the “Islamic Center of Hamburg”, which established a wide network throughout the German territory that exerted great influence on the Shiite communities of different nationalities to a point that would achieve total control, in the sense of exploit these communities by all means from recruitment to espionage and money laundering, according to the report of the German Internal Intelligence Service, issued in the summer of 2019.
However, he did not mention to the intelligence agency the names of the elements of this network in order to preserve the secret of their monitoring and follow-up on the one hand, and not to endanger the lives of the people who denounced them at risk.
The content of the messages and speeches of the Shiite Islamic Central was found to be the result of contacts with Iran, which is working to export its revolution, and this is inconsistent with the German constitution, according to a memorandum sent by the federal government to Parliament. on August 21, 2019.
The memorandum literally said that “German organizations and mosques that are subject to Iranian influence theoretically work under the umbrella of the Islamic community of Shiite organizations, but the center in Hamburg is the main engine for them.”
And headed by the imam and director of the Hamburg Islamic Center, Sheikh Muhammad Hadi Muftah, who runs this scheme, Al-Arabiya.net obtained the original copies of the German intelligence report on the center and Sheikh Muftah.
Rather, it is more dangerous than that, as Iran’s activities have implicated European institutions, including the German one, providing funds to religious institutions and putting them under threat of being suspected of financing “illegal” activities.
As evidenced by the fact that the Organization of the Islamic Society of Shiite Organizations in Germany (founded in 2009), which includes the Islamic Center of Hamburg, obtained funding from the European Union in 2019 worth 137 thousand euros, while the volume of German funds between 2016 and 2019 amounted to 120 thousand euros within the framework of a program aimed at combating religious extremism, as reported on the Goethe website or the German GOETHE INSTITUTE.
But what is actually happening is the opposite, since this money is used for the objectives of the Iranian regime, since the center is in direct contact with Khamenei’s office and provides all forms of support to the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to the local policy expert for German Democrats Dennis Gladiator, in a letter to Parliament in Hamburg.
These violations formed the spark of official and party moves in Hamburg in recent months, to ban the main Iranian arm in Germany, especially after Hezbollah was recently classified as a terrorist organization and banned all its activities.
And from Hamburg to Bremen in northern Germany … where one of the city’s social centers is involved in financially supporting the Lebanese Hezbollah: the “Mustafa Center.”
According to a report from the local intelligence service in Bremen, Al-Arabiya.net obtained a copy of it, it was found that this center, which operates under a social cover, collects funds and transfers them to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The intelligence report shows that about 50 people in Bremen and about 1050 in various parts of Germany are members of the “Mustafa” center, which sent money to the families of party fighters.
Germany had preceded France a step in declaring Hezbollah a “terrorist organization”, but Paris has economic interests in Iran that may make it less sharp in the line of confrontation with Shiite groups that are linked to Iran with extremist agendas.
Perhaps the most prominent issue is the “Zahra Center in France”, whose close association with Iranian intelligence was revealed, due to the ideological affinity of that center, which was established in 2005 with Iran and the promotion of Hezbollah, which made it a the focus of attention of the French security services.
The paradox here is that the French authorities have closed the “Zahraa” center and frozen its assets on charges of “spreading extremism and terrorism” in Europe for a period of only 6 months, so that the four Shiite associations that are dissolved and fall under the umbrella of the “Zahra Center” include the “Party Against Zionism” and The television “Shiite Union of France” and “France Marian Tilly”, the decision to ban it remains in the hands of President Emmanuel Macron … which raises questions about the laxity of the ban so far.
As mentioned above, these cultural associations and mosques constitute a cover for money laundering operations in Europe led by party members, and this is recognized by the Commission for the Protection of the Constitution in the state of Bavaria in the south of Germany, where he said that “the Lebanese Hezbollah uses German land as a place to provide logistical and financial support.”
However, Hezbollah’s main routes are changing and are now moving from South America to Africa, including the European Union, where cocaine is smuggled into Germany, for example, through 3 main ports: Rotterdam (South Holland ), Antwerp (Belgium) and Hamburg (northern Germany), according to a magazine report. German Der Spiegel.
Perhaps the discovery of the drug smuggling and money laundering gang in the famous “Cedar Gang” in 2016 gives a clear idea of the way these networks work in money laundering.
This gang, made up of 14 members, 4 of whom were in Germany, used to transfer money from drug trafficking in Latin America to Europe and Africa, where they bought expensive cars, watches and jewelry, and then shipped them to Lebanon, where they were sold in the black market and the value of money was recovered to finance Hezbollah operations. Between 2011 and 2015, the four resident partners laundered 20 million euros.
And recently, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that customs authorities in the western city of Essen discovered a possible money laundering operation for Hezbollah related to a group of Lebanese who, for the past two years, are believed to have laundered nothing less. than 75 million euros.
The matter did not stop at this point, but Hezbollah in Europe began to pursue a new strategy in transferring funds to Lebanon or Syria, according to the consultant for international relations and political economy at the Geneva Center for Studies and Research, Nasser Zuhair, in his interview with Al-Arabiya.net.
This mechanism is represented by companies and individuals who transfer money illegally in Europe and focuses on transferring cash amounts of between 5,000 and 40,000 euros in a single transaction … as long as it is repeated several times a week and through different networks.
For example: A member of Hezbollah reaches out to the individual or company (the first intermediary) that transfers money in Germany, France or Belgium, either in the same city where they live or elsewhere, in an attempt not to arouse suspicion.
At the same time, it gives you the address and phone number of the person who will make the delivery in Lebanon or Syria (the second intermediary) to the opposing party affiliated with Hezbollah in Beirut or Damascus.
Through an open telephone line, one Hezbollah member in Europe delivers the amount to the first intermediary, and the other party in Lebanon or Syria receives the same amount in the same currency or in a corresponding currency from the second broker in the country to the the transfer was completed, and the process is complete in minutes.
According to the Geneva Center, mediators receive a percentage of the money that is limited to between 3 and 7% of the value of the sums transferred, and this process can be repeated 8 times a day through several intermediaries, several cities and several persons.
With a simple calculation, transferring 40,000 euros 8 times a day, the amount transferred to Hezbollah will reach 9.6 million euros per month and 115.2 million euros per year, with the possibility of doubling the number of transfers without the need for efforts to settle funds and transfer them to property or jewelry and transfer them back. .
