US labels Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan as ‘terrorists’; Egypt, Saudi Arabia hail action

President Donald Trump's administration has labelled the three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations and imposed sanctions on them. The Treasury and State departments announced the actions against the Lebanese, Jordanian, and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the US and American interests, on Tuesday. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe designation, which makes it a criminal offence to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by the Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

“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 US Treasury said in a statement.

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“The Muslim Brotherhood has inspired, nurtured, and funded terrorist groups like Hamas, that are direct threats to the safety and security of the American people and our allies,” said John Hurley, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group. The two Republican-led state governments, Florida and Texas, have already designated the group as a terrorist organisation.

The Muslim Brotherhood

Established in 1928 by Egyptian Muslim scholar Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood has offshoots and branches across the Middle East, including political parties and social organisations, but was banned in Egypt in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.

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Egypt’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the US designation of the Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as global “terrorists” and called it a “pivotal step”.

It said that Washington’s decision “reflects the danger of this group and its extremist ideology and the direct threat it poses to regional and international security and stability”.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday welcomed the decision by the United States to label the three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations.

“The Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes the classification by the United States of America of the branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon as terrorist groups,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.