On Tuesday, January 13, 2025, the United States Department of State and the United States Department of the Treasury announced that the Lebanese, Jordanian, and Egyptian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood (Jama’at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) had been designated as terrorist organizations and added to the FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) and SDGT (Specially Designated Global Terrorist) lists.
The most wanted terrorism suspects sought by the Egyptian police and the National Security Department—members of the Muslim Brotherhood / Photo: Elagamytarek via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The decision is consistent with Executive Order EO 14362 of November 24, 2025 (as amended) and entered into force last week.
The FTO list now includes the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya), along with its leader Muhammad Fawzi, also known as Taqqosh, who was designated as an SDGT. In addition, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood were designated as SDGTs for providing material support to Hamas, which has been listed as an FTO since 1997.
Department Of State stresses that “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs. The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
As stated in a release by the United States Department of the Treasury, the organizations in question were added to the sanctions list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which entails the seizure of all assets, property, and interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
“The Treasury Department is taking action pursuant to President Trump’s leadership by designating Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorist Organizations,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “The Muslim Brotherhood has a longstanding record of perpetrating acts of terror, and we are working aggressively to cut them off from the financial system. This Administration will deploy the full scope of its authorities to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist networks wherever they operate in order to keep Americans safe.”
“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 Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John. K. Hurley. “Despite their peaceful public façade, both the Egyptian and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood branches have conspired to support Hamas’s terrorism and undermine the sovereignty of their own national governments. This Administration will use all tools at our disposal to hold them accountable for the violence they have encouraged across the Middle East and the world in pursuit of their extreme version of Islam.”
As emphasized, although the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas has pledged allegiance, claims to have renounced violence, its branches in Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt continue to promote, incite, and glorify terrorism that directly threatens the interests of the United States and its allies.
Since 2025, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas have coordinated activities related to potential terrorist operations against Israeli interests in the Middle East. In mid-2025, leaders of Hamas’s military wing sought to exploit tensions in the region and cooperated with the Brotherhood to weaken and destabilize the Egyptian government, accepting funding from Hamas for this purpose.
The Brotherhood’s ties to Hamas also include direct support for terrorism and violence. Members of the Brotherhood have provided assistance to Hamas militants. For example, in 2024, individuals seeking to travel to the Gaza Strip to fight on Hamas’s side required connections to the Brotherhood. Since 2023, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Saudi Arabia has also raised funds for Hamas and transferred them to Hamas fighters before returning to Egypt.
The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood has likewise provided material support to Hamas. Since early 2025, individuals linked to the Brotherhood in Jordan, an organization that was formally dissolved by a Jordanian court ruling in 2020, have been involved in terrorism-related cases in the country. Brotherhood members in Jordan, in cooperation with foreign entities, engaged in the production of rockets, explosives, and drones, as well as in recruitment operations, raising funds through illegal means.
At present, 81 organizations are listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). In the previous year, following the assumption of office by Donald Trump, the list was expanded to include drug cartels from North, Central, and South America, including those from Venezuela.
Today, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, in coordination with the Department of State, is designating the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood for their material support to Hamas. https://t.co/EEh0ZtXwp5
— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) January 13, 2026
Today, we are designating the Lebanese, Egyptian, and Jordanian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups. Under President Trump's leadership, the United States will eliminate the capabilities and operations of Muslim Brotherhood chapters that threaten U.S. citizens…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) January 13, 2026