"The decision of the German government is completely disrespectful to the government and people of Lebanon since Hezbollah is an official and legitimate part of the government and the parliament", Mousavi said in a statement.
On 30 April, spokesman for the German Interior Ministry Steve Alter said that Minister Horst Seehofer had banned the activities of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement across the country.
Later in the day, the Syrian government decisively condemned the decision which, according to Damascus, was taken as a result of pressure from Israel and the United States.
Last December, the Bundestag called on the federal government to ban Hezbollah, explaining that Germany is used by the movement - whose political wing has over 1,000 members - as a militant hideout and logistics centre. Politicians also called on the government to stop separating the political and military wings of the Lebanese movement.
In addition, the lawmakers insisted that the government, together with international partners, take measures to reduce the influence of Hezbollah in the Middle East, especially in Syria. However, they requested a ban of only the movement's activities and not the movement itself, since the existence of social and organizational structures of Hezbollah in Germany has not been established.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese political party and a militant group, whose primary basis of support is the country’s Shiite Muslim community. The group was formed as a self-defence force in the early 1980s during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
