Pink time for the Iranian regime

Music can be heard from 500 meters away; The fare of the system was clearly worthwhile. The musicians sit on a plateau in Rosenanger Park in Berlin’s Frohnau district, largely surrounded by plants. A pair with kanun and oud plays Turkish music with moderate inspiration, after which Yakup Kili, the representative of the Iran House of Iranian Cultural Representation in Germany, announces the handpan, an instrument he says he did not know. Finally, a grizzled guitarist plays popular Andalusian music and sings in Spanish, his accent at the best of the beginner level.

Hamid Mohammadi has been cultural adviser at the Iranian Embassy in Berlin since 2019. He is the Head of Iranian Cultural Representation, an associate partner of the Rose Festival.

About 15 visitors hear it on September 3, very few in the neighborhood. There is no trace of rose products and “Iranian folk tales about roses” “1. Rosenfests am Rosenanger« was advertised on posters, flyers and online. The event was organized by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe’s »Drousenstadt” event from where the Cultur-Cooperation International Association receives funding for the Rose Festival. Kathleen Goebbels is the president of the association, calling Kilic by her first name on the microphone. All Iranian women present, who are standing on stands with Iranian sweets or with their families behind fences, and two who are apparently to be present at concerts, are strictly veiled.

Hamid Mohamedi stands a little apart, with Gobel introducing him to a guest. Mohammadi has been the Cultural Councilor of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Berlin since 2019. He is the Head of Iranian Cultural Representation, an associate participant of the Rose Festival. There are also other associate partners, the Hafiz Cultural Institute and the Saadi Cultural Institute, the Institute for Iranian Cultural Representation, located at Iran House in the Vila district of Lichterfeld. In 2020, Mohammadi drew attention to himself by relativizing the Holocaust: he shared a post by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with his friends on Facebook that questioned the criminal liability of Holocaust denial, as Die Welt reported at the time. had reported.

In 2012, Mohammadi headed the Iranian Embassy’s Cultural Center in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. The center organized programs and language courses, supported the establishment of associations and centers for “Iranian studies”, for example in universities, and participated in events organized by partners loyal to the regime, such as those in honor of revolutionary leader Ruhollah. A conference in Khomeini. The Cultural Center in Berlin and the Iranian Cultural Representation have the same logo. On posters, flyers and online information about the Rose Festival, it is right next to the logo of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, as if it were an official collaboration.

The Press Office of the Senate Department for Culture informed Jungle World on August 25: “All logos intended to be used by funded projects (including the Senate Department logo) are available for download for funded projects and The use of the logo as stated should therefore be binding.«

A security warning is currently displayed in the browser when attempting to access the cultural representation’s website, irancultur.com. Videos on “apartheid in Palestine” can be seen there recently, and Al-Quds Day is advertised on the cultural representation’s Instagram page. The Berlin State Office for the Protection of the Constitution responded to a question from Jungle World on 26 August regarding the link: “A first inspection of the material shows that the references you submit are exemplary to the hostility towards Israel promoted by Iran. and linked to anti-Semitism.”

In response to an inquiry by the Berlin Secretary of State for Culture, Torsten Wöhlert (Left Party), with this response from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is against this background it considers funding a project in which Iranian cultural representation Contained to be just and consistent with the Bundestag proposal on the anti-Semitic BDS campaign, their press office announced on 31 August: »In the applicant’s application › Culture Cooperation‹ (…) › Iran Haus was not specified as an associate partner. The jury selected the project on the basis of the application submitted. Information on other cooperation partners only reached us through your request. « The Press Office of Senate Chancellor Berlin does not respond at all, press spokesperson for the Senate Department of Justice, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, and thus anti-Semitism officials, Refers to the »detailed« answers of the Press Office of the Senate Department for Culture. She no longer responds to questions about how she evaluates the use of the logo and whether a decision to withdraw the grant is being considered given the new information.

Mohamedi made his mission in Canada no secret in 2012. In an interview with a Persian-language news portal based in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is aimed at Iranians in Canada, he said the Iranian community could only avoid merging with the “dominant Canadian culture” if they were “high-level”. level dominant position”.. He predicted that the number of Iranians in Canada would increase because of the birth rate. “As such, we need to run very focused culture programs to nurture and nurture culture in this rapidly growing population. It is clear that it is only through these programs and gatherings that the great Iranian population can serve our beloved Iran. might.”

The comments prompted Canada’s foreign ministry to issue a statement saying that the Iranian embassy should not interfere in the decisions of Iranian Canadians. In September 2012, Canada closed its embassy in Tehran and expelled all Iranian diplomats from Canada, including Mohammadi. In Germany he can apparently carry on his activities without any hindrance, supported by interested German operatives and with public funds.