The United States has designated branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as terrorist organisations, marking a major policy shift long advocated by key Arab allies and conservative groups in the US.
The designation was announced on Tuesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the move aligns with President Donald Trump’s commitment to dismantle what Washington describes as the operational and financial networks of Muslim Brotherhood chapters that threaten US security.
“Today, as a first step in support of President Trump’s commitment to eliminate the capabilities and operations of Muslim Brotherhood chapters that pose a threat to the United States, the United States is imposing terrorist designations against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Rubio said in a statement.
He described the action as the beginning of a sustained campaign to disrupt the activities, financing and influence of the group across the region.
Under the designation, any assets linked to the affected Muslim Brotherhood chapters within the United States will be frozen, while financial transactions with them will be criminalised.
The move also significantly restricts the ability of members to travel to the US.
Egypt welcomed the decision, describing it as recognition of the threat posed by the group’s ideology.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said the designation underscored the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood and its destabilising impact on regional and international security.
Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood evolved into a transnational Islamist movement with branches across much of the Arab world.
Its influence, however, has waned in recent years amid coordinated crackdowns by several Arab governments.
The group briefly rose to power in Egypt following the 2011 uprising, when Mohamed Morsi won the 2012 presidential election.
His government was overthrown a year later in a military coup led by then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who subsequently launched an extensive crackdown on the movement.
Egypt, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has long regarded the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat, citing its political ambitions and call for a unified Islamic caliphate.
US officials said the latest designation was partly based on alleged links between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated as terrorist by Washington.
The Treasury Department said the Egyptian and Jordanian branches had coordinated with Hamas, particularly following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
In Lebanon, the State Department said the Muslim Brotherhood had aligned itself with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, in launching rocket attacks against Israel.
According to US officials, the Lebanese chapter has increasingly pushed for formal alignment with what they described as the Hezbollah-Hamas axis.
The Muslim Brotherhood had also gained political traction in Jordan, where its political wing functioned as the main opposition party in parliament.
However, Jordan banned the group in April last year, confiscating its assets after accusing it of stockpiling weapons and plotting to destabilise the country.
In the United States, conservative politicians have for years pushed for the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood, arguing it would cut off funding and international support for the movement.
Some of these efforts were accompanied by claims that the group was seeking to infiltrate US institutions, allegations experts have widely dismissed.
Washington had previously hesitated to take the step, partly out of concern over relations with Turkey, whose president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has long expressed ideological sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood.
President Trump maintains a generally cordial relationship with Erdogan, despite Ankara’s strong criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
