The US on Tuesday designated the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations and named the Lebanese chapter as a foreign terrorist organisation, a more severe classification.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would harness all tools available to cut off resources the Brotherhood chapters use to engage in terrorist activity.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilisation wherever it occurs,” he said.
He said the Lebanese chapter's leader, Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, would now be classed as a specially designated global terrorist, and his property and interests would be blocked.
The Treasury Department said the measures against the Egyptian and Jordanian branches constituted action to “curtail the pernicious influence of the Muslim Brotherhood” for providing material support to Hamas, naming both chapters as specially designated global terrorists.
The State Department said that following the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood (LMB) had launched rocket attacks, in co-ordination with Hamas and Hezbollah, from Lebanon into northern Israel. It added that Israel and the Lebanese army had taken action against the group.
“Under LMB secretary general Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh’s leadership, the group has pushed for a more formal alignment with the Hezbollah-Hamas axis,” the Treasury said.
Treasury said measures against the Egyptian and Jordanian chapters were designed to “curtail the pernicious influence of the Muslim Brotherhood” for providing material support to Hamas.
Terrorist designations are meant to isolate groups and their members by blocking their access to the US financial system and the resources needed to carry out attacks. People and businesses that engage with those designated could also come under sanctions.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood “categorically” rejected the designation and said it would pursue legal avenues to challenge it.
“We deny all allegations that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has directed, funded, provided material support for or engaged in terrorism,” Salah Abdel Haq, acting general guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, said. He added that the designation is unsupported by credible evidence and reflects external foreign pressure on the US.
The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist political movement founded in the late 1920s in Egypt. It has since grown into a transnational movement, with branches and affiliates across much of the Arab and Muslim world.
Several countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Russia, already consider the Brotherhood a terrorist group.
The UAE said it welcomed the designations.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump in November issued an executive order initiating the process of designating some chapters foreign terrorist organisations.
The White House at the time singled out branches in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, saying they “engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilisation campaigns that harm their own regions, US citizens and United States interests”.
In August, Mr Rubio said a terrorist designation for parts of the Brotherhood was “in the works”.
There are currently two bills in Congress calling for full foreign-terrorist designation of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Far-right leaders in Mr Trump's Republican Party, as well as Make America Great Again figures such as Laura Loomer, have long been pushing for a federal designation of the Brotherhood.
Florida and Texas have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist group, though only at state level. Such moves carry no federal immigration consequences, asset freezes or criminal penalties that accompany designations at federal level.
