Once more the Iranian regime is showing the ugly face of its dictatorship abroad, this time in Germany and through briefcase-bullying and a predatory lawsuit to muzzle free speech of those who oppose its reign of terror and its fundamentalist ideology. This time the threat of lawfare is against Dr. Kazem Moussavi an avid environmentalist and human rights activist.

The regime’s frontman is Dawood Nazirizadeh, a business consultant who has led several German business delegations to Iran. He is a member of the German Social-Democratic Party,(SDP) and the former fellow at Friedrich Ebert Foundation(FES), affiliated with the SDP. Nazarizadeh is also a board member of the “Islamic community of the Shiites in Germany” (IGS), an organization entirely controlled by the Iranian regime. IGS organizes the annual Al-Quds Day rally in Berlin, an event sponsored by clerical regime to fuel anti-Semitism and hatred against Israel.

For the past several years, Nazarizadeh has led German business delegations to Iran, seeking to fill Iranian regime’s coffers

The lawsuit claims that Dr. Moussavi’s work exposing Nazarizadeh’s ties to Tehran is defamatory. As the icing on the cake, and to throw a chill up the all of our spines, the regime’s legal boss in this case is the notorious Michael Hubertus von Sprenger, a past attorney for a long list of dictators, right-wing extremists, and Holocaust deniers.

To begin with, for Nazarizadeh to prevail in the lawsuit, he has to prove that the defamatory statement (that he is connected to the Iranian regime) must be objectively false, obviously a meritless case. However predatory lawsuits are typically backed by big pockets and are designed to entangle the victims in a trap of financial and time challenges, enough for them to give up. But should Kazem Moussavi give up?

The price of shutting up in front of Iran’s dictators now, and in this case in Germany, is far more than what Dr. Moussavi or any of us can afford, or are willing to pay. If the Iranian regime is allowed to muzzle and suppress one activist against its reign of terror and its anti-semite campaigns, it can muzzle all of us.

Kazem Moussavi

Dr. Kazem Moussavi is the editor of Iran Appeasement Monitor, the German section of the Iranian American Forum. He is also one of the co-founders of the Green Party of Iran and was an active and prominent member of Stop the Bomb organization in Germany. Dr. Mousavi is a graduate of civil engineering and environmental engineering from Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin).

Dr. Moussavi is a frequent invited speaker and has published numerous impactful reports, on Iran’s environmental crisis and Iranian regime’s human rights violations. Dr. Moussavi has been relentlessly exposing Iranian regime’s web of influence and its network of Islamic centers in Germany.

His reports and activities have resulted in the cancellation of Tehran’s sponsored economic conferences disguised as cultural events. He is a leading activist in opposing the anti-Semitic Al-Quds Day rally while combatting Tehran’s campaign against Israel in Germany. His effective campaign has enraged governmental press in Tehran, resulting in their constant smear attacks against him.

During the recent popular uprising in Iran, the German newspaper Die Welt published a special report featuring Dr. Moussavi’s view and his criticism of Germany’s appeasement policies toward the Iranian regime. He was also interviewed by the popular TV show Berlin Direkt, (a TV magazine broadcasting by German public-service television), and demanded that the German foreign minister stop putting economic interests before human rights issues.

Who is Dawood Nazarizadeh?

Dawood Nazirizadeh first from the right is an active board member of the Islamic community of the Shiites in Germany (IGS) standing next to Iranian cleric Mahmoud Khalilzadeh (head of IGS) and cleric Reza Ramezani (chairman of IGS’s “scholar board” and representative of Iran Supreme Leader). First from left is Mehdi Imanipour, Iranian cultural attaché in Germany

Promoting Iranian regime’s ideology and fueling anti-Semitism in Germany

Dawood Nazirizadeh is a founding member of Imam Hussein Mosque in Wiesbaden which according to Deutsche Welle is a subsidiary of Islamic Center in Hamburg (IZH). Hamburg Center is controlled by the Iranian regime and according to Bild, “The head of the IZH, Reza Ramezani, is considered to be the representative of Ali Khamenei in Germany.”

Mr. Nazirizadeh is also an active board member of the Islamic community of the Shiites in Germany (IGS), an organization controlled by the Iranian regime. The head of IGS is the Iranian cleric Mahmoud Khalil Zadeh who is the Imam of Islamic Center in Frankfurt. The chairman of IGS’s “scholar board” is cleric Reza Ramezani, the Imam of Islamic Center in Hamburg.

This is a report by Islamic Center in Hamburg about the election of IGS board members in May 2017. Dawood Nazarizaed is one of them.

A report by the cultural attaché of Iranian embassy in Germany about a religious event co-organized by IGS and Iranian embassy was posted on Iranian embassy website.

Nazarizadeh next to two Iranian clerics who lead IGS and Iranian cultural attaché in Germany.

In 2017 Dawood Nazirizadeh told German daily TAZ that he didn’t deny that anti-Semitism does exist in the German Muslim community and that “we take action against it.” He then falsely claimed (see flyer) that the Al Quds rallies were not organized by the IZH or the IGS. He moreover said that criticism of Israel’s alleged human rights violations must not be judged as anti-Semitic. Nazirizadeh then refused to publicly denounce Iran’s 2017 Holocaust Cartoon Prize Competition as anti-Semitic.

Quds Day Rally: IGS is the main organizers of annual Berlin anti-Semitic Al Quds Day rally, a global event sponsored by the Iranian regime. Below is the official flyer for the rally posted by IGS:

Quds day Rally in Berlin

From right: Nazirizadeh, Khalilzadeh, head of IGS, Sigmar Gabriel, German foreign minister (till March 2018) and Ramezani, Imam of the Islamic center in Hamburg

In addition to the mosque, the Hamburg center has a Shiite seminary which is affiliated to the Seminary of Qom in Iran. Hamidreza Torabi is the head of Hamburg seminary (Islamic Academy Germany, IAD/ IZH). In 2016 Kazem Moussavi unveiled the leading role of Torabi in the annual Berlin Al Quds-Day, see picture below.

In this picture, Hamidreza Torabi at the Al-Quds day rally in Germany in 2016

In May 2017, Sigmar Gabriel hosted a conference at the German foreign ministry titled: “Responsibility for Religions in Peace.” The guests included Ali Majedi the Iranian ambassador to Germany, Torabi the head of Hamburg seminary, Nazirizadeh., and Abdulhassan Nawab, president of the Shiite University in Qom,(URD)

In this picture, first form the left Abdulhassan Nawab, Hamidreza Torabi, head of the Qom Seminary (IAD- 2nd from right), at the Hamburg mosque (IZH), Dawood Nazirizadeh (IGS- 3rd from right), and the regime’s Ambassador in Germany, Ali Majedi, 4th from right

In March 2016, Mr. Nazirizadeh led a German inter-faith delegation to visit Iran, and in coordination with the Iranian regime, the delegation visited Al-Mustafa University in Qom. Founded in 2007 and controlled by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Al Mustafa trains foreign Shia clerics, scholars, and missionaries. Its main campuses are in Iran and have more than one hundred seminaries, Islamic schools and religious centers around the world. Al-Mustafa disseminates the regime’s ideology in the Islamic world and helps the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Forces to recruit pro-regime fanatics around the globe. Al-Mustafa is very active in Germany. The visit by German inter-faith delegation is part of the Iranian government public relation campaign to present a peaceful and soft image of the regime mask the blatant discrimination against religious minorities in Iran.

Nazirizad and Tehran’s business diplomacy

For the past several years, Iran has been trying hard to lure European companies and investors to Iran. The expansion of European business ties with Iran could help Tehran to salvage its depleted economy and as a result, enables the regime to sustain its vast system of repression and pursue its regional ambitions. At the same time, the Iranian regime uses its relation with Western businesses as leverage to shape European and American policies toward Iran and shield itself from future sanctions and harsher Western policies.

Nazirizadeh and his consulting firm in Germany are very active to encourage German companies to do business with Tehran and acts as an intermediary between German companies and Iranian entities, some of them tied to Revolutionary Guards.

In September 2016, he organized the visit by a German business delegation to Tehran. The Economy minister of Hesse led the delegation that included representatives of German companies.

Nazirizadeh, first on the right and Tarek Al-Wazir, 2nd on the left, Minister- of Economic Affairs of Hesse, Germany, First picture: Al Wazir signing a contract in Tehran. a a

In October 2016, Nazirizadeh accompanied a German business delegation to Tehran. The delegation was led by Sigmar Gabriel (then Minister for economic affairs,) accompanied by representatives of German companies.

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Sigmar Gabriel in Tehran

In February 2017, Nazirizadeh accompanied a German business delegation to Iran. The delegation was led by the undersecretary of the ministry for economic affairs, Joe Weingarten, of Rheinland-Pfalz and included representatives of German companies.

The signing of business contracts, Joe Weingarten and Rahim Banamoolaii, head of the industry chamber of Alborz

Nazirizadeh is the official representative of the Ministry of Economy of the State of Rheinland-Pfalz in its business dealing with the province of Alborz (Alborz Gazwin Industrial Estate) and cities of Tabriz and Isfahan and Kish island in Iran.

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Nizirizadeh and representative of the Ministry of Economy of the Rheinland-Pfalz at the 4th Kish International Exhibition (Stock Exchange, Bank, Insurance, and Privatization) from October 30 to November 2, 2017

March 2018: Representing the Ministry of Economy of the State of Rheinland-Pfalz, Nazarizadeh discussed the extension of German economic ties with representatives of Provincial Government of Azerbaijan in Tabriz.

Nazirizadeh told German newspaper Tagesspiegel that he was in contact with the Iranian government in relation to the Alborz Economic Projects: “I have no contacts with the Iranian government, except for the Economic Department of the Provincial Government of Alborz,” he told the Tagesspiegel.

Alborz Provincial Government has the largest industrial city in Iran. Alborz has the highest rank in foreign investment among industrial towns in the country. The managing director and its deputies are appointed by the Ministry of Industry and Mines and the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence. Although some companies and small-scale private manufacturing companies operate in the industrial city of Alborz, the shareholders and owners of the major companies of this industrial complex are: Alborz Governor’s Office, the Bank of Trade (Tejarat), which was under International sanctions, Mostazafan Foundation (Glucosean), Foundation Barkat of Imam (Blessing of the Imam) Committee (Firooz), as well as the Basij Engineer organization, and the Revolutionary Guards.

From right to left: Director General of the Alborz Industrial Town, Jahangir Shahmoradi, Middle, Hosseini, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Alborz province and Mehdi Golkar, the intelligent officer of the Alborz Industrial province

Iran’s Religious and governmental organizations abroad are required to work on the promotion and expansion of Khamenei’s anti-western message, addressing youth in the United States and Europeans countries.

Nazirizadeh is the head of the Refugee Academy in Wiesbaden (affiliated with the Islamic Shiite community of Germany) and the Imam Hussein Mosque Center in Wiesbaden (affiliated with the Hamburg mosque), sponsored by German government agencies to assist refugees in learning language and employment. His academy enjoys thousands of Euros federal funds to promote so-called anti-Fundamentalism and preventing violence.

In this photo from IGS Facebook page, which was posted on December 21, 2015, the workshop is working hard to promote Khamenei’s message to the Western youth in Germany. Nazirizadeh is a member of the IGS board and thus responsible for its educational and cultural programs.

Nazirizadeh’s lawyer is Mr. von Sprenger. He is widely known for representing Turkish president Erdogan in his case against German satirist Jan Bohmermann, right-wing extremists like the former editor of the extreme right-wing newspaper Deutsche Nationalizeitung and founder of the extreme right-wing party DVU, the late Gerhard Frey, Holocaust deniers such as David Irving, right-wing populists like Jürgen Elsässer, and Milli Görüş.

Because of Dr. Moussavi’s strenuous activities against the ruling regime in Iran, media and presses have launched smear campaigns against him.

Dawood Nazirizadeh and his lawyer, Mr. von Schepnerger, claimed in their lawsuit against Dr. Kazem Mousavi that his (Dr. Moussavi’s) goal is to overthrow the Iranian regime. For this purpose, Dr. Moussavi had launched a blogging campaign to prevent a rapprochement between Iran and Germany.