US sanctions Lebanese, Egyptian, Jordanian branches of Brotherhood

The Trump administration announced sanctions against three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East—all for supporting Hamas, the U.S. State and Treasury Departments announced on Tuesday.

The Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood was hit by the State Department with both a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist label, while its secretary general, Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, was sanctioned as a specially designated global terrorist entity.

The Treasury Department also designated the Egyptian and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood chapters as specially designated global terror entities.

“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” stated U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”

The Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood coordinated with Hamas and Hezbollah to activate its forces and launch rockets at Israel after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, the State Department stated.

The branch “pushed for a more formal alignment with the Hezbollah-Hamas axis,” while the Israel Defense Forces carried out a preemptive strike against the branch’s al-Fajr Force in March 2024. The Lebanese Army “dismantled a covert military training camp that included Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas militants” in July 2025, the State Department said.

The Egyptian and Jordanian branches were also cited for providing material support to Hamas, which is itself both a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist entity.

“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,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated. “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 entities join other Muslim Brotherhood entities and offshoots that already fell under U.S. sanctions, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Gama’a al-Islamiyya, Harakat Sawa’d Misr and Liwa al-Thawra.

Trump mandated Rubio and Bessent last year to determine the most appropriate and effective ways to impose sanctions on Muslim Brotherhood groups, which are already banned in Egypt, Jordan and in other countries throughout the Middle East.

“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,” stated John Hurley, U.S. treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The Brotherhood has hubs in Qatar and Turkey, which are both Trump administration allies. No related entities in those countries have been sanctioned.

©JNS