CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler quoted extensively in cover story on Hamas networks in Germany: "Hamas wants to give itself a peaceful image through its propaganda - far from executions and rape..."

“... The people who have been in prison so far cannot therefore be described as prisoners or detainees. "They are hostages of the regime," says Schindler, who now heads the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank that focuses on terrorism. Ultimately, the Iranians are not interested in giving the German detainees a fair trial, but rather in convicting them on flimsy evidence in order to use them as political bargaining chips. This was also the case with Helmut Hofer. "The Iranians' idea was to exchange him for the terrorist Darabi and his accomplices," says Schindler. Kazem Darabi was the mastermind behind the Mykonos attack in Berlin, in which four Kurdish politicians in exile were killed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Germany did not allow itself to be blackmailed by Iran.” 

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shawcross has now disagreed publicly. The Home Office had, he said, ‘ignored’ key recommendations to beef up Prevent’s performance and the glass remained only ‘half full.’ I have some experience of bureaucratic sleight of hand at work when it comes to reviews and recommendations. When I was tasked by the Government to look into the Prison Service’s colossal and unforgivable failures in containing Islamist extremism a few years ago, I made 69 recommendations which were mysteriously repurposed into 11 without my consent; eight were finally accepted."

Iran is relying on hybrid warfare and decentralized military structures in its war against Israel and the US. A peaceful transition seems impossible, says Hans-Jakob Schindler, Middle East expert [and CEP Senior Director], on WELT TV.

What has changed within just a few days? What networks does the regime have in Germany? How are supporters being mobilized? How prepared are the German security authorities for possible actions? Alica Jung discusses these issues with Marc Henrichmann, CDU, Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Panel, Hans-Jakob Schindler, terrorism and Middle East expert [and CEP Senior Director], and ZDF correspondent Elmar Theveßen in Washington. 

While formally a U.S. ally, Qatari’s ruling elite shelters and bankrolls Islamist movements including Hamas, Taliban elements, al‑Qaeda affiliates, and Muslim Brotherhood networks, making Doha one of the world’s key state enablers of jihadist terrorism, according to the Counter Extremism Project think tank.

In Germany, the debate is increasingly framed through the lens of hybrid tactics. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, said: “It’s clear that the defense strategy of the Islamic regime in Iran really is hybrid warfare. ” He added that the idea Tehran could try to “increase the economic and political costs of military confrontation globally by using terror attacks as they had a history in the past of doing” is “definitely something that is very clear. ”

Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Research Analyst Sofia Koller discusses the foreign terrorist fighter situation and camps in Syria and Iraq. [Starting at 06:29]

For security experts, the Hamburg case is part of a larger picture. Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank “Counter Extremism Project” says that Iran has built up a network of organizations, individuals, and structures in Germany over many years. This has resulted in the creation of a veritable security architecture that will not simply disappear even after individual institutions have been banned.

[CEP Senior Director] Middle East expert Hans-Jakob Schindler analyzes the US and Israeli attacks on Iran. He emphasizes that President Peseshkian has no control over the military: “The Revolutionary Guards act independently,” says Hans-Jakob Schindler, Middle East expert, on WELT TV.