The Lebanese Hezbollah chief denied on Monday May 4 that his movement had any activity in Germany. One way of responding to Berlin's decision to ban the pro-Iranian movement on German territory.

"When we say that we are not active in Germany, we are 100% sincere," said the Hezbollah chief.

According to him, the Berlin decision is a "political" decision, which reflects a "submission to the American will and aims to satisfy Israel".

On Thursday, the German Interior Ministry announced that it had "banned the activity of the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah in Germany".

On the same day, "several police actions were carried out in various regions" of Germany, against establishments linked to the movement, said a spokesman for the ministry.

Police raid mosques in #Berlin and other cities after the German government declared #Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Police say the mosques are linked to armed Shiite groups.
There are more than 1,050 Hezbollah members in #Germany. pic.twitter.com/MNr2RN6hAF

- Eli ☀️🏖 (@Haleksandrony) April 30, 2020

According to German media Spiegel and Bild, these are mosques in Berlin, Bremen and Münster as well as a "center for Lebanese emigrants" in Dortmund.

Until then only the activities of the military branch of Hezbollah, considered as a terrorist movement by all the countries of the European Union, were banned in Germany, but not those of its political branch which organizes in particular demonstrations or actions anti Israeli.

In March 2019, the United Kingdom registered Hezbollah in its entirety on its terrorist list before extending in January the freezing of its assets to its political branch.

Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday he expected "other European countries to make similar decisions" in the future. 

With AFP

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