Germany expels head of banned Muslim association

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany has told the Iranian head of the recently banned Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) that he is being expelled from the country and has two weeks to leave, authorities in Hamburg said on Thursday.

The interior ministry of the German city state of Hamburg said in a statement that it had informed Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh that he has until Sept. 11 to leave or else be deported.

Mofatteh had been head of the IZH since summer 2018, the statement continued.

He did immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent via social media.

According to findings by Hamburg's domestic intelligence agency, he was the official deputy of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Germany as head of the IZH until recently.

Bild newspaper and broadcaster NDR first reported on the expulsion orders.

Social media accounts associated with the IZH and its website have been taken down in Germany after the country banned the IZH and subsidiary organisations in July for "pursuing radical Islamist goals", according to the federal interior ministry.

The ministry said the IZH, which includes one of the oldest mosques in Germany known for its turquoise exterior, had acted as a direct representative of Khamenei and sought to bring about an Islamic revolution in Germany.

Following the closure of the IZH, Iran summoned the German ambassador in Tehran.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More)

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