Germany Outraged as Iran Shuts Down Goethe Institutes in Tehran

The German Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday following Tehran's closure of two German cultural centers. 

The closures pertain to the Goethe Institute branches in Tehran, which Iran's judiciary claims have been involved in numerous legal and financial violations.

This action occurs nearly a month after Germany banned a religious center linked to Iran. The Iranian judiciary's online platform, Mizan Online, stated that the closures were ordered due to the centers' non-compliance with Iranian laws and involvement in significant financial misappropriations, though specifics were not disclosed.

In a strong rebuke, the German Foreign Ministry condemned the closures as "unjustified" and demanded that the new Iranian government immediately allow the institutes to resume operations. The ministry emphasized that the institutes, established in 1995 and employing 85 teachers, serve as significant cultural and educational venues, promoting German language learning under challenging conditions.

The Iranian news agency Nur News clarified that the closed centers were affiliated with the Goethe Institute, the cultural front of Germany in Tehran—a claim initially disputed by the German Foreign Ministry. Further investigations into other German-affiliated centers' violations are ongoing, according to Mizan Online.

Relations between Tehran and Berlin soured in July when the German government banned the Islamic Center in Hamburg for supporting Hezbollah and its ties to Iran. Tehran responded by summoning the German ambassador and condemning Germany's "hostile actions" as contrary to fundamental human rights principles.

The German Interior Ministry accuses the center of being an extremist Islamic organization with unconstitutional objectives, and directly representing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The center, established by Iranian immigrants in 1954, has been under surveillance by German intelligence for some time.

After Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, German lawmakers renewed calls for the center's closure, linking it to Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.