US designates Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon as 'terror' groups Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 01/13/2026 - 15:30 Designations make it illegal to provide material support to the groups and ban their current and former members from entering the US Protesters wave the flags of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Jordanian capital Amman on 21 June 2019 following US President Donald Trump's 'Deal of the Century' announcement (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP) Off The United States designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations on Tuesday, a move that is likely to be welcomed by some regional governments but criticised by others who view the group as a political movement rather than an armed organisation. The US Treasury and State Departments said they were imposing sanctions on the Muslim Brotherhood's Egyptian , Jordanian and Lebanese branches, alleging the groups pose a threat to US interests. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch as a "foreign terrorist organisation" (FTO), the most severe classification under US law, which criminalises the provision of any material support to the group. Separately, the Treasury Department listed the Jordanian and Egyptian branches as "specially designated global terrorists," accusing them of providing support to Hamas. "These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilisation wherever it occurs," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that Washington would "use all available tools" to cut off the groups' access to resources. The designations make it illegal to provide material support to the groups. They also largely ban their current and former members from entering the US and impose economic sanctions to choke their revenue streams. The designations follow an executive order signed by Trump last year instructing Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to determine how best to sanction Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organisations. US officials have long accused the Brotherhood and its offshoots of engaging in or supporting violence, a claim that the group has repeatedly denied. Tuesday's decision comes years after US President Donald Trump first began advocating for targeting the movement. Trump apparently began pushing the move in earnest after meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the White House in the spring of 2019, according to a New York Times report. However, the Defence Department, career national security staff, government lawyers, and diplomatic officials raised legal and policy objections. Last year, the Republican governors of Texas and Florida moved to crackdown on the leading Muslim civil rights group in the US. Both states designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) along with the Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist" group. CAIR, which denies links to the Muslim Brotherhood, has since sued them in response. What is the Muslim Brotherhood? Founded in 1928 in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the world's largest and most well-known Islamic movements. It was established in opposition to British colonial rule and its leaders have consistently said the organisation renounces violence and operates as a political and social movement. After operating in secret for years, it was outlawed and attacked by nationalist Arab rulers like Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Hafez al-Assad of Syria. However, the Muslim Brotherhood gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s as secular, authoritarian governments pushed modernisation and western agendas. In the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, its popularity skyrocketed as protesters took to the streets to overthrow autocratic rulers. In 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a senior figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, won what is widely regarded as the country's first and only free presidential election. He was overthrown a year later in a military coup and died in custody in 2019. Trump’s Muslim Brotherhood ban is a blunt answer to the Gaza genocide Read More » Tensions over the group culminated in a rift between regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. The UAE and Saudi Arabia led a blockade of Qatar and fought proxy wars with Turkey in countries like Libya. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have all banned the Muslim Brotherhood. Jordan banned the organisation in April, allegedly after pressure from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. More recently, the Gulf states have tried to patch up ties, but the Muslim Brotherhood remains a point of contention in the region. Many autocrats and monarchies view the group as a threat to their rule. In Tunisia, the Ennahda party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, has been harassed and its leadership arrested. President Kais Said, who was democratically elected, has consolidated power in his hands, shuttered the parliament and purged the country of political opponents, secular and Islamist alike. In other areas, however, the US's allies have worked with governments supported by local parties seen as close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Since entering office, Trump has shown no qualms about working with self-declared Islamist leaders, such as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who served roughly five years in a US prison after travelling to Iraq to repel the 2003 US invasion of the country. Sharaa went on to found al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian branch. He was only officially removed from the US terror list in November, before his White House visit. US Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0