The Ayatollah’s Men in Europe: Part 1
HojjatolIslam Seyyed Mostafa Motahari (Radio Farda image).
by Potkin Azarmehr
IPT News
November 22, 2020
The Ayatollahs in Iran have established a vast network of mosques and other organizations across Europe to export and organize their nefarious activities. We will begin with their network in the most Northern European country, Norway, and in the next articles further examine the situation in other European countries.
Norway’s Police Security Service (PST) reportedly has asked for the imam of the Imam Ali Shia mosque in Oslo to be expelled. The unnamed imam’s expulsion is pending a decision by Norway’s judiciary, but the reason to expel him has been reported as “based on national security interests.”
Who is this Iranian imam in Oslo and why is he considered a national security risk for Norway?
Iranian sources who have followed the case in Norway identify this imam as HojjatolIslam Seyyed Mostafa Motahari, who went to Oslo from Iran in 2016.
The imam allegedly works for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and has connections with an Iranian-Norwegian dual national, Mohammad Davoudzadeh Loloei, who was found guilty by a Danish court in June of collecting information about Iranian exiles in Denmark. Loloei gave the information about one of the subjects “to a person working for an Iranian intelligence service for use by the intelligence service’s plans to kill the exile,” the court said.
Davoudzadeh entered Norway eight years ago as a bogus asylum seeker and then obtained Norwegian citizenship.
Motahari’s mosque website is in Persian and its Norsk and English links are broken. Its About Us mentions no names of mosque leaders and claims it is “an independent public and religious institution with no ties to any government.”
A simple google search in Persian however, proves otherwise.
The hajj.ir website affiliated with the Supreme Leader’s representative office for Hajj pilgrimage mentions Motahari as the head of the Imam Ali Mosque in Norway. In an interview published on its website three years ago, Motahari says he is delighted about the number of Arbaeen marches taking place throughout the European cities.
Arbaeen marks the 40th day of mourning for the prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein, the holiest Shia figure, killed in a battle in Karbala, in 680 CE. A public mourning ceremony that until a few years ago was unheard of in Europe, it has been used by the Iranian regime as a political protest throughout Europe in the last few years similar to the annual Al-Quds march.
Motahari says in the interview that “the newly awakened youth in Europe by taking part in the Arbaeen ceremony are showing their solidarity with the Islamic resistance.”
Thousands turned up for the Arbaeen march in London this year, waving flags of the Hashd Al-Sha’bi – the Iranian backed Shia militia in Iraq responsible for kidnapping and killing British soldiers and civilians.
Further in the interview, Motahari displays his total devotion and affiliation to Iran’s Supreme Leader by praising Ali Khamenei’s letter to the youth in Europe.
Motahari is referring to Khamenei’s 2015 open letter Ayatollah Khamenei, which was promoted on his website and on his twitter account (without any “fact check” flags by Twitter). In the letter, Khamenei blames Western powers for violence against Muslims:
“The Islamic world has been the victim of terror and brutality to a larger extent territorially, to greater amount quantitatively and for a longer period in terms of time. Second, that unfortunately this violence has been supported by certain great powers through various methods and effective means.”
And as usual no opportunity is missed by Khamenei to portray Israel as the most brutal regime in the world:
“A Palestinian family is not secure even in its own home from the Zionist regime’s death and destruction machinery,” he wrote. “What kind of atrocious violence today is comparable to that of the settlement constructions of the Zionist regime?”
Motahari ends his interview by saying how the Arbaeen marches in Europe will help galvanize the resistance to the sanctions against Iran.
Motahari’s devotion and affiliation to Iran’s Supreme Leader is also evident in his previous official posts. Prior to being appointed as the imam of the mosque in Oslo, Motahari worked with the Dar-ol-Hadith institution, which was established in 1995 by Khamenei’s direct orders as one of the subordinate bodies of the Al-Mustafa International University, one of Iran’s main arms for disseminating Khomeinist ideology abroad.
This is all in stark contrast with the Imam Ali Mosque’s website claim that it is “an independent public and religious institution with no ties to any government.”
The Imam Ali mosque receives 600,000 NK annually in Norwegian taxpayer money. Other European governments also contribute to Iran’s Islamic centers and mosques. Iran’s leaders must laugh knowing they can spread their influence in Europe and radicalize European youth with their poisonous Khomeinist ideology at public expense.
Iran continues to exploit European Union’s guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion by spreading its complex network of mosques, Islamic centers, cultural and educational centers under the disguise of religious worship, but with the real intention of spreading the Khomeinist ideology of political Shia Islam.
Norway’s counter-intelligence chief, Hanne Blomborg has also confirmed this. “I can say that we see in Europe how Iran uses religious centers and mosques as a platform for intelligence and surveillance of opposition figures,” she said. “We have also seen this in Norway.”
In subsequent articles, we will show that Norway is not alone and other European security agencies have failed to properly check the backgrounds of people that the Supreme Leader sends to Europe.
IPT Senior Fellow Potkin Azarmehr, is a London-based investigative journalist, business intelligence analyst, and TV documentary maker who was born in Iran. He regularly contributes to several newspapers and television stations on Iran and Middle East related news. You can follow him @potkazar.
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