Iran says Germany to face ‘consequences’ after banning Hezbollah

Iran lashed out at Germany’s decision to ban Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group on its soil, threatening it “consequences” for what it said was succumbing to US and Israeli “propaganda.”

In an overnight statement issued overnight, Iran’s foreign ministry claimed that Berlin ignored the “realities in West Asia” and showed “complete disrespect to the government and nation of Lebanon.”

“The German government must face the negative consequences of its decision in the fight against real terrorist groups in the region,” it added pointing at Hezbollah’s involvement in fighting the Islamic State in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime in Damascus.

Like the European Union, Germany had until now outlawed only Hezbollah’s military wing while tolerating its political wing.

Berlin branded Hezbollah in its entirety a “Shiite terrorist organization” on Thursday, with dozens of police and special forces storming mosques and associations across the country linked to the Lebanese militant group.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the move as a “very important step and a significant moral move in the global war against terrorism.”

The UK outlawed Hezbollah’s political wing last year, making membership of the Shiite movement or inviting support for it a crime.