The U.S. has designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, in a move that could impact Washington’s relationships with Qatar and Turkey.
The Treasury and State departments announced the moves against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the group, which the Trump administration asserts pose risks to the U.S.
The State Department gave the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood the most severe of its labels, designating it a foreign terrorist organization, which makes it illegal to provide material support to the group, The Associated Press reported. Additionally, the Treasury Department labeled the Jordanian and Egyptian branches as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas. The Lebanese chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood was also given a special designation by the Treasury Department.
‘These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, according to the AP. ‘The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.’
The labeling of the Jordanian chapter as a specially designated global terrorists comes months after Amman announced a sweeping ban on the organization. The AP noted that while the Jordanian monarchy had previously banned the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago, it officially licensed a splinter group and continued to tolerate the Islamic Action Front while restricting some of its activities. The Islamic Action Front, a political party linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, won several seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
In November, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for ‘certain chapters or other subdivisions of the Muslim Brotherhood’ to be considered for designation as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terror organizations.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens, and United States interests,’ the executive order reads.
The order goes on to state that after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, ‘the military wing of the Lebanese chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian factions to launch multiple rocket attacks against both civilian and military targets within Israel.’ It also adds that the Egyptian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood ‘called for violent attacks’ against U.S. partners and interests on Oct. 7, 2023. Additionally, the order states that the Jordanian chapter’s leaders ‘have long provided material support to the militant wing of Hamas.’
Both Florida and Texas have designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, something Trump contemplated doing in 2019 during his first term in office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
