Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) The United States has designated the Egyptian, Lebanese and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as “terrorist organisations”, citing in part what it described as their support for the Hamas terror group, in a move that is set to impose sweeping sanctions on one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.
The decision, which Washington formally initiated in November last year, will trigger financial and travel restrictions against the three branches.
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday (local time) said it has designated the chapters as specially designated global terrorists, accusing them of supporting or encouraging violent terror attacks against Israel and American partners in the region.
“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 announcing the designations.
As a consequence of the move, the United States will block any assets held by the Muslim Brotherhood within the world’s largest economy and criminalise transactions involving the group or its affiliates.
The designation also significantly restricts the ability of members to travel to the United States.
Egypt’s foreign ministry welcomed the decision, calling it a “crucial step that reflects the gravity of the group and its extremist ideology and what it represents as a direct threat to regional and international security and stability.”
Founded in Egypt in 1928, the pan-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood once expanded its influence across much of the Arab world.
In recent years, however, the movement has faced sustained pressure and crackdowns by several major Arab governments, leading to a gradual decline in its political reach and organisational strength.
The Brotherhood briefly rose to power in its home country through democratic means following the 2012 election of Mohamed Morsi, which came after the overthrow of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak had formally banned the Muslim Brotherhood, though some of its activities, including its extensive network of social services, were tolerated.
Morsi was removed from office in 2013 in a coup led by then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has since overseen a wide-ranging crackdown on the organisation.
Egypt, along with US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has long sought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood, whose ideological vision calls for the establishment of a unified Islamic caliphate.
The US decision to designate the branches was taken in part on the basis of their alleged support for Hamas, according to American officials.
The Treasury Department said the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Brotherhood had coordinated with Hamas, whose large-scale October 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparked a devastating Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
The US State Department, meanwhile, said that in Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Muslim movement, had allied itself with the Hezbollah terror group in launching rockets into Israel.
The Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has “pushed for a more formal alignment with the Hizballah-Hamas axis”, the State Department said, underlining Washington’s concerns over the group’s regional alliances.
In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood had gained significant influence, with its political wing emerging as the main opposition party in parliament.
However, in April last year, Jordan banned the organisation and ordered the confiscation of its assets after accusing it of stockpiling weapons and plotting to destabilise the kingdom, which maintains a peace treaty with Israel.
In the United States, the Muslim Brotherhood has also been the subject of intense political debate in recent years.
Some conservative groups and lawmakers have promoted claims, widely regarded as unfounded, that the organisation is attempting to infiltrate the US government with the aim of imposing Islamic sharia law.
Republican legislators have repeatedly pushed for a formal ban on the Brotherhood, arguing that such a move would cut off potential funding channels.
–IANS
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