Islamic Education Center-Houston is a Shia Muslim mosque, school, and community center in Houston, Texas that promotes a pro-Iranian worldview and teaches Islamic jihadist principles supported by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ¹

It was created by the Alavi Foundation, which has been identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as being under the direct control of the Iranian government. ²

Background

Islamic Education Center-Houston (IEC-Houston) is the public name of the “Anjuman-e-Haideri Istna Ashri Shia Muslim Association of Greater Houston.” ¹ Founded in 1985, it is a registered religious charity with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Texas Secretary of State. ³

IEC-Houston performs religious services, operates two schools, offers other education programs such as Farsi language training, conducts community outreach efforts, and operates a free clinic. ¹ It serves as the center of Houston’s Iranian Shia Muslim community, and promotes Iranian interests and propaganda within its congregation and to the broader Houston community, including opposition to the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. ^{1 4}

It was reportedly created and funded by the Alavi Foundation, which the U.S. Department of Justice has said is controlled by the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. ² In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice undertook civil forfeiture proceedings against IEC-Houston’s headquarters, which was owned by the Alavi Foundation. ^{2 5}

Alleged Ties to Iran

The Islamic Education Center-Houston is associated with the Iranian “Twelver Shi’ah” Islamic tradition, which puts both spiritual and secular power in the hands of leaders such as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his successors in the Iranian government. ⁶ IEC-Houston is often explicit in this allegiance, such as in its 2019 celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran during which its schoolchildren were filmed pledging allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying “Khamenei is our Leader!” ⁴

In 2022, children at IEC-Houston were filmed singing an Iranian song marking the anniversary of the death of the Ayatollah Khomeini. ⁷ The original Farsi version of the song praised and promised to emulate Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who was targeted and killed by an American airstrike for commanding attacks on American troops. ^{7 8} While IEC-Houston removed the video from its YouTube site after public backlash, it was played on Iranian state television and reported on in other Iranian state media. ^{9 7}

Hojatoleslam Maulana Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri was the lead imam of IEC-Houston between 2005 and 2015. According to a since-deleted biography on a subsequent employer’s website, Shabbiri had been “directly appointed by the office of the [Iranian] Supreme Leader” to this role. ¹⁰

In 2017, nine members of Congress wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines expressing their concerns about Iranian influence on Shia mosques and other religious institutions in the United States. ¹¹ They specifically named IEC-Houston as one of the institutions of concern, setting out “reasons to suspect that IEC Houston is serving the Iranian regime directly” that included its ties to the Alavi Foundation, which the U.S. Department of Justice has said is under the control of the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. ²

Funding

As a religious charity, the Islamic Education Center-Houston is not required to file annual financial reports with the IRS or publicly disclose its finances. ¹²

It has received grants from the Alavi Foundation, which also served as its landlord. ^{13 2}

IEC-Houston charges $15 monthly individual or $30 family membership dues, encourages donations from its community, and charges for programs and classes. It also collects the tithes, taxes, donations, and penalties required of observant Muslims from its congregation under Islamic law. ¹⁴

In 2024, two men with connections to IEC-Houston, Muzzamil Zaidi and Asim Mujtaba Naqvi, pled guilty to federal charges of attempting to illegally smuggle funds gathered from such religious sources to Iran, on behalf of the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran. ¹⁵

1. “About.” Islamic Education Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://iec-houston.org/about/.
2. “Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Historic Jury Verdict Finding Forfeiture of Midtown Office Building and Other Properties.” United States Department of Justice, Southern District of New York , June 29, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/acting-manhattan-us-attorney-announces-historic-jury-verdict-finding-forfeiture-midtown.
3. “Exemption Verification Letter.” Texas Comptroller of Accounts, May 1, 1986. https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/exempt/verification-letter.php?tp_id=17600256006.
4. “Islamic Education Center of Houston Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution, Children’s Choir: Khamenei Is Our Leader, We Are His Soldiers.” MEMRI, February 17, 2019. https://www.memri.org/tv/islamic-education-center-houston-texas-celebrates-iran-anniversary-revolution-teen-speaks-boys-sing-khamenei-leader-soldiers-marzieh-hashemi.
5. Eisenbaum, Joel. “Federal Government Wins Right to Seize Houston’s Islamic Education Center.” KPRC, June 30, 2017. https://www.click2houston.com/news/2017/06/30/federal-government-wins-right-to-seize-houstons-islamic-education-center/
6. Newman, A. J.. “Twelver Shiʿah.” Encyclopedia Britannica, September 4, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twelver-Shia.
7. “Shi’ite Children in Houston, Texas Sing: [Khamenei] Is Calling on His Children, His Soldiers.” MEMRI, July 22, 2022. https://www.memri.org/tv/shiite-kids-in-houston-texas-pledge-allegiance-to-iranian-leader-khamenei.
8. Afifian, Andrew. “Mosques in the U.S. Could Be Fronts for the Iranian Regime, Including One in Texas, Republican Congressmen Warn in Letter to Merrick Garland.” Dallas Express, August 15, 2023. https://dallasexpress.com/national/congressmen-call-out-iranian-backed-mosques/.
9. “Iran State Media Share Video of US Children Singing Tehran-Sponsored Religious Anthem.” Al Arabiya English, July 29, 2022. https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/07/29/Iran-state-media-share-video-of-US-children-singing-Tehran-sponsored-religious-anthem.
10. “Islamic Community Centre & Hussainiya.” Al Zahra Foundation Nottingham (accessed via Wayback Machine), August 4, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230804193929/https://www.azf.org.uk/resident-aalim/.
11. Lamborn, Douglas, Brad R. Wenstrup, Kevin Hern, Gus M. Bilirakis, Lauren Boebert, Byron Donalds, Michael Guest, Ben Cline, and Claudia Tenney. “Letter to AG and DNI on Iranian Influence in U.S. Mosques.” U.S. House of Representatives, July 28, 2023. https://lamborn.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/lamborn.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/letter-to-ag-and-dni-on-iranian-influence-in-u.s.-mosques-7.28.23.pdf.
12. Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File.” Internal Revenue Service. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/annual-exempt-organization-return-who-must-file.
13. “Alavi Foundation Funds Book Distribution Program.” The Alavi Foundation, February 3, 2011. https://alavifoundation.us/alavi-foundation-funds-book-distribution-program/.
14. “IEC Donate.” Islamic Education Center. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://iec-houston.org/donate/.
15. “Scheme to Transfer Money to Iran Results in Guilty Pleas.” United States Department of Justice, May 1, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/scheme-transfer-money-iran-results-guilty-pleas.