Germany moves to dry up funding for Iran’s hidden arms
Germany is taking steps to cut off the funding channels of the “hidden” arms of Iran and to expose their activities in spreading extremism and exerting influence, reflecting growing awareness of their danger.
In the latest development, the parliament of the state of Berlin is discussing a draft resolution calling on the state government to scrutinize public funds received by an organization that runs a childcare center in the German capital and is suspected of being a front for Iranian activities aimed at influencing children.
The draft, submitted by the party Alternative für Deutschland and discussed by the state parliament in recent days, calls on the government to “refuse to grant or to withdraw the operating license of the Berlin Network for Health and Education (BNIG) with regard to the daycare center, due to doubts surrounding the educational concept and its lack of credibility, as well as the absence of sufficient guarantees for child protection.”
It also calls on the government to review how the organization used the funds it received under a current project supported by the state and to reclaim them if it is proven that they were not used in accordance with the agreement.
The preamble of the draft states: “The support granted to the BNIG daycare center in Berlin, amounting to millions of euros, raises the question of whether public authorities have sufficiently examined the ideological orientation of the contracting entities.”
According to the draft, Martin Hikel, mayor of the Neukölln district, said that cooperation with the organization “initially raised his optimism,” but later pointed to emerging indications of a potentially problematic background that now needs to be verified.
Hikel said: “We feel a certain unease regarding this daycare facility, because there are simply links with other organizations which, in turn, clearly declare adherence to the mentality of the Iranian regime,” according to the draft’s preamble.
This concerns financial support from the Berlin state government amounting to 4,180,000 euros, granted to BNIG to provide daycare places for children over a period extending until 2026.
According to the draft resolution, “there are suspicions that certain Shiite individuals linked to Iran seek to indoctrinate children in Germany,” in an attempt to influence them and possibly draw them into Tehran’s project at an early age.
A front for Iran
According to the draft resolution, information points to personal relationships between members of the entity operating the daycare center (BNIG) and organizations directly linked to Iran.
Mohammad Amer is viewed as the central figure, having served as the organization’s executive director and the main official responsible for the joint project with the state of Berlin.
Mohammad Amer has an international network of relations and is a member of the board of trustees of the Imam Ali Foundation, based in London. He also held a leadership position in the Organization of the Islamic Community of Shiite Denominations in Germany between 2010 and 2017.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (domestic intelligence) confirms that the Organization of the Islamic Community of Shiite Denominations is “close to Shiite Islamism” and is “an important element in directing the interests of the Islamic Center of Hamburg.”
The German government classifies the Islamic Center of Hamburg as an extension of the Iranian regime and banned it about two years ago, describing it as hostile to the constitution.
The Berlin state parliament has referred the draft resolution to the Committee on Family and Youth for discussion and for submission of a report to the parliamentary administration before holding a plenary session to debate and vote on it.
According to the sources, the committee will hold a meeting in the coming days to discuss the draft.
