French Police Operation Against Shia Group Supporting Ali Khamenei

On Tuesday morning, October 1st, French police raided the premises of a Shia Islamic association in the country named 'Zahra Center of France.' Following this operation, three individuals associated with this center were arrested. Gérard Collomb, the French Minister of the Interior, announced that these three were arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons. Over 200 French police participated in the search operation of 12 locations linked to the residences of the leaders of this Shia group in the city of 'Grand-Synthe' in northern France. According to AFP, citing local officials, this operation is part of a proactive policy of 'preventing terrorism.' The German news agency reported that 11 individuals were interrogated during this operation. Local officials in the 'Grand-Synthe' area stated that the leaders of the 'Zahra Association' in France have declared their support for 'several terrorist organizations and movements that oppose the values of the Republic [of France].' On the supporters' page of the Zahra Association, images of flags from Shia groups supporting Iran in Iraq and quotes from Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, can be seen. They have also published images of several individuals in military uniforms and headbands reading 'Ya Zahra' on their Facebook page. The founder of the Zahra Center in France is a person named 'Yahya Qasemi,' who opened this center in 2009 and has expressed support for 'Hezbollah and Ali Khamenei' over the years. Yahya Qasemi is of Algerian-French descent and has been mentioned in the media of the Islamic Republic, including a recent quote from him published by the Fars news agency, stating that the Islamic Republic of Iran is 'an indispensable element in solving Middle Eastern issues and stabilizing the region.' Reports indicate that, by order of the French ministries of Interior and Finance, the assets of the 'Zahra Center' have also been frozen by the authorities. This comes as France announced on the same day that it had also frozen assets belonging to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in connection with a 'bombing plot' related to June. The 'Zahra Center' website states that this Shia Islamic association has 8,000 'followers' on social media, and its goal is 'to spread the message of Islam through films, radio, writings, and holding conferences.' In 2015, nearly 245 people were killed due to attacks by Sunni extremist Islamists in France. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for most of these attacks. Members of this group have declared the Shia minority as infidels.