Federal prosecutors in Manhattan began legal action on Thursday to seize properties in Queens and across the country where several mosques are located in a broad move against a nonprofit organization that was accused of illegally providing money and other services to Iran.

The organization, the Alavi Foundation, owns the land on which the mosques sit, as well as a majority interest in an office tower at 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which has also been slated for seizure by the government.

The authorities accused the Alavi Foundation of spending millions of dollars to obtain and develop the properties, in violation of federal laws that ban trade with Iran.

In addition to the Queens property, which is at 55-11 Queens Boulevard and houses the Imam Ali Mosque, the government sought forfeiture of the foundation’s ownership in seven other properties, several of which house mosques. Another of the properties is a 36-story granite-and-glass tower at 52nd Street known as the Piaget Building.