Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, the head of the banned Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), filed court action on Wednesday to challenge a deportation order — hours before a deadline for him to leave the country.

The IZH, which Mottafeh headed from 2018 until its forced closure, was considered by German domestic intelligence authorities to be controlled by Iran.

What we know about the case

It is understood the appeal itself does not necessarily suspend the deportation order, and the Hamburg Interior Ministry said Mofatteh left Germany on Tuesday evening.

Authorities in Hamburg had issued the deportation order at the end of August.

It meant the 57-year-old Shiite Muslim cleric had to leave Germany within 14 days or be deported to his homeland — Iran — at his own cost.

Mofatteh is also forbidden to reenter Germany or spend any time in the country for 20 years. If he were to disobey, he would face a prison sentence of up to three years.

The cleric's exit comes with the threat posed by Islamist extremists high on Germany's political agenda after a deadly knife attack in the western city of Solingen in August.

What did officials say about links to Iran?

Germany's domestic intelligence agency said Mofatteh was until recently considered the official representative in Germany of the Islamic Republic of Iran's hard-line Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

"Mofatteh is an accomplished representative of the current regime in Tehran. His family is firmly integrated into Iran's state-religious elite," according to the latest report by the agency.

The interior minister for the state of Hamburg, Andy Grote, 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.

The IZH was outlawed in July after it was classified as an extremist group by German authorities. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described it at the time as "Iran's most important propaganda center in Europe."

In addition, the center promoted "an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany," Faeser said in a statement issued to justify the move to close it down, confiscating its assets and facilities.

Faeser also took the same action in July against five other IFZ-linked Shiite associations as extremist Islamist organizations. Police also closed and confiscated assets and facilities of Hamburg's "Blue Mosque," which is supported by the IZH, and three other places of worship nationwide.

rc/rm (AFP, dpa, KNA)