After receiving a deportation order, the former leader of an Islamic center in Germany that was shut down due to its suspected ties to extremist organizations has departed the nation, according to local officials on Wednesday.
The Hamburg interior ministry claimed in a statement that Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, who oversaw the Hamburg Islamic Center before it was shut down in July, departed Germany on Tuesday night.
Two weeks prior, Mofatteh, 57, had received an order to depart Germany by Wednesday or risk being deported at his own expense.
According to the ministry, he will not be permitted to return to Germany for 20 years and may spend up to three years in jail if he does.
Andy Grote, interior minister for the state of Hamburg, described Mofatteh as “one of Germany’s most prominent Islamists”.
“We will continue to take a tough line against Islamists with all legal means at our disposal,” he said in a statement.
Investigators swooped on the Hamburg Islamic Centre in July after concluding it was an “Islamist extremist organisation” with links to Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
In an apparent tit-for-tat gesture, Iran responded fiercely to the claims by closing a German language institute in Tehran.
Following a fatal knife assault in the western city of Solingen in late August, Mofatteh’s departure coincides with the threat posed by Islamist extremists occupying a prominent position on Germany’s political agenda.
Eight people were hurt and three people died in the alleged attack, which the Islamic State organization claims was carried out by a Syrian seeking asylum.
Germany’s immigration issue has become more contentious as a result of the attack; this week, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced tighter border regulations aimed at reducing irregular migrant inflows.
The government has also promised to speed up deportations and a week after the Solingen attack deported Afghans convicted of crimes back to their home country for the first time since Taliban authorities took power in 2021.
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