US designates three Muslim Brotherhood chapters as global terrorists
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A 2018 photo shows supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood holding Jordanian flags and chanting slogans during a pro-Palestinian demonstration.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- The US designated Egyptian, Lebanese, and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as global terrorists.
- The US Treasury accuses the branches of supporting violent attacks against Israel and US partners and terrorist groups like Hamas.
- Egypt welcomed the move, while the Muslim Brotherhood's Lebanese branch dismissed its legal impact.
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WASHINGTON - The United States on Jan 13 designated the Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as global terrorists, citing in part what it called their support for Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The move, which Washington formally set in motion in November 2025, will bring sanctions against one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.
The Treasury said it was labelling the three chapters as specially designated global terrorists. It has accused the trio of supporting or encouraging violent attacks against Israel and US partners.
“Chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood purport to be legitimate civic organisations while, behind the scenes, they explicitly and enthusiastically support terrorist groups like Hamas,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the move, describing it as a “crucial step that reflects the gravity of the group and its extremist ideology and what it represents as a direct threat of regional and international security and stability”.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Lebanese branch, also known as Jama’a Islamiya, called the move a political and administrative decision by the United States that has no “legal impact within Lebanon”.
The Muslim Brotherhood won Egypt’s first free presidential election in 2012, but was overthrown by the military a year later after mass protests against its rule and has endured a fierce crackdown by the authorities since then. REUTERS
