Linked below are the official complaints filed by the federal government to initiate seizure of assets belonging to the charities/companies linked to the Iranian government:
Alavi+Press+Release+SDNY+USAO [PDF]
Assa+Corp+Complaint+11-12-09 [PDF]
Now, CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) issued a press release earlier this week:
CAIR said the unprecedented move by the government may have First Amendment implications for the American Muslim community.
“Whatever the details of the government’s case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
The case against Assa and Alavi is simple and merits seizure:
Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation managed the office tower on behalf of the Iranian government and, working with a front company known as Assa Corp., illegally funneled millions in rental income to Iran’s state-owned Bank Melli. A U.S. Treasury official has accused Bank Melli of providing support for Iran’s nuclear program, and it is illegal in the United States to do business with the bank.
CAIR, it seems, is trying to counter previous allegations of anti-Shia bias…
A Shiite Muslim, Haddadi says she was “completely dishonored and mistreated” by senior CAIR managers because of her religious background while working in the membership department at CAIR’s national office in Washington, located just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol.
Of course, Iran doesn’t mind shutting down Sunni mosques or even harassing Sunnis in Iran:
The security forces of Iran attacked a mosque and a religious school at three o’clock in the morning today, 27 August 2008, arrested the students and staff and destroyed the mosque and the religious school in the North East of Baluchistan, Iran. The security forces used several bulldozers and tractors to completely destroy the building of Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque in Azimabad, a suburb of the city of Zabol. Nobody knows what has happened to the students, teachers and staff of the school and the mosque. The people who witnessed this morning operations observed that the students and teachers were very frightened. The security forces began beating them as soon as they attacked the school and bundled them into secure police cars as they were crying and screaming. The attack happened at a time that all of the students and staff were sleeping. There was not any warning by the police or security forces about the destruction of the mosque and the school.
The Iranian authorities destroyed another mosque about a year ago in the northern part of Iran and its Imam and staff were arrested and thrown into prison. Several mosques which belonged to the Sunnis of Iran have been destroyed since the emergence of the Shia fanatic Republic of Iran. There are 15 to 20 million Sunnis in Iran. They have been discriminated against systematically. Molana Ahamad Narouee, the deputy director of the main theological school in Zahedan was arrested two weeks ago. The security forces have demanded that the religious school must expel all foreign students who are studying at the school. According to the head of the school a small number of students from the Central Asian republics are studying in the school. But they have been denied students visas. There are hundreds of Shia students from the Central Asian republics who are studying in different Shia theological schools of Iran.
Despite discrimination against Shias in many Muslim countries, Shia mosques still exist. A good example would be the aptly named Shia Mosque in Pakistan.
The Shia mosques in question in the United States should have been more careful before establishing their bases in buildings run by the terrorist Iranian regime.
Anyway, the mosques, per se, aren’t being shut down. Only the buildings are being seized. The mosques will continue to function, and may do so even after the seizure if they change premises.
