U.S. Issues Its First-Ever Designations of Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorists

For more than a decade, Washington avoided a definitive judgment about the Muslim Brotherhood. That changed on January 13 when the U.S. State and Treasury departments designated three Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organization.

The Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood, which operates as al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah (The Islamic Group), was designated both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The Egyptian and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood branches were designated as SDGTs.

In Washington, previous pushes to designate the Brotherhood or its branches yielded no designations. This move represents the most direct U.S. action against the Muslim Brotherhood to date. If sustained and expanded, this approach could significantly disrupt Islamist networks across the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

The Three Designated Chapters Engaged in Violence or Materially Supported Hamas

During the war that followed the October 7 massacre by Hamas, Lebanon’s Islamic Group activated its armed wing, the al-Fajr Forces, and launched rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel in coordination with Hezbollah and Hamas, according to U.S. government findings and open-source research. Additionally, al-Fajr operatives were caught preparing to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel, and the Lebanese Armed Forces dismantled a covert military training camp involving both al-Fajr and Hamas militants. The Treasury Department also designated the Islamic Group Secretary General Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh.

Additionally, the Treasury Department designated the Egyptian and Jordanian Brotherhood branches as SDGTs based on their material support for Hamas, particularly in facilitating recruitment, logistics, and financing.

In Jordan, elements linked to the group have been implicated in terrorism cases since early 2025. In April 2025, Amman reported that individuals connected to the group were planning for a coordinated terror campaign as they were engaged in “manufacturing rockets and drones, possession of explosives and firearms, and recruiting operatives in Jordan and abroad.”

Regional Players Welcome the U.S. Designations, Which Brotherhood Branches Reject

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood rejected the U.S. designation, vowing to pursue “all legal measures” to halt the implementation of U.S. sanctions, which would deny them access to the U.S. financial system. The Islamic Group similarly dismissed the move as political, claiming it carried “no legal or judicial implications in Lebanon or internationally.”

Regional governments, by contrast, broadly welcomed the decision. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement thanking President Donald Trump for his leadership and reiterated Cairo’s longstanding position that the brotherhood exploits religion for political ends. Jordan’s Minister of Government Communication emphasized that the brotherhood in Jordan “has been dissolved for years,” noting that all of its activities have been banned since April 2025.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization domestically, also welcomed the U.S. action.

Impact of Designations Depends on Enforcement, Targeting of Additional Branches

These designations should mark the beginning, not the culmination, of a renewed U.S. effort to confront the constellation of branches, franchises, and offshoots that comprise the Muslim Brotherhood’s global network. Whether this effort produces a lasting impact will depend on sustained enforcement, further financial investigations, and the willingness of the administration to expand designations to additional branches where the evidentiary threshold is met.

Mariam Wahba is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Mariam and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Mariam on X @themariamwahba. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.