Egypt Welcomes US Designation of Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorist Organizations

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Egypt on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the United States to designate Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as terrorist organizations, describing the move as a significant blow to extremism and a validation of Cairo’s long-standing stance toward the group.

In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said the US decision “reflects the danger of this group and its extremist ideology and the direct threat it poses to regional and international security and stability.”

The ministry added that the designation aligns with Egypt’s position, which has classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization “based on violence, extremism, and incitement.”

The reaction came after the Trump administration formally entered a contentious regional debate by blacklisting the Lebanese, Jordanian, and Egyptian branches of the transnational Sunni Islamist movement.

The US State Department designated the Lebanese branch, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, as a foreign terrorist organization, while the Treasury Department listed the Jordanian and Egyptian branches as specially designated global terrorists for allegedly providing support to Hamas.

The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 by schoolteacher and Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Banna, began as a social and religious movement advocating governance based on Islamic principles.

Over time, it evolved into one of the most influential and controversial Islamist movements in the Arab and Muslim world, inspiring political parties and organizations across the region.

While the Brotherhood’s leaders have long maintained that the group renounced violence decades ago and seeks to pursue its goals through elections and peaceful political participation, critics argue that some of its offshoots have maintained armed wings or have been linked to militancy.

The movement’s early history included an armed component that fought British colonial rule and Israel, and it was implicated in political violence in Egypt during the mid-20th century.

The Brotherhood’s relationship with the Egyptian state has been marked by cycles of repression and limited tolerance. After being outlawed following the 1952 military coup and accused of plotting against President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, the group re-emerged in the 1970s under President Anwar Sadat, who allowed it to operate informally as a counterweight to leftist forces.

During Hosni Mubarak’s three decades in power, the Brotherhood was officially banned but tolerated, eventually becoming Egypt’s strongest opposition force.

Its brief rise to power followed the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak, culminating in the election of Mohammed Morsi as president. However, widespread opposition to Morsi’s rule led to mass protests and his ouster by the military in 2013.

The subsequent crackdown under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi saw the Brotherhood outlawed, labeled a terrorist organization, and its leadership imprisoned or forced into exile. The group’s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, remains incarcerated under multiple life sentences.

Beyond Egypt, Brotherhood-linked movements have played varied roles across the Middle East. In Syria, the group launched an armed rebellion against the government in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in the 1982 Hama crackdown that killed or disappeared tens of thousands.

In the Palestinian territories, Hamas—founded in 1987 during the first intifada—emerged as an offshoot of the Brotherhood and explicitly embraced armed resistance against Israel.

In Lebanon, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya operates as a Sunni political party but also maintains an armed wing. Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the group joined Hezbollah in launching rocket attacks against Israel, despite big ideological differences between the two organizations.

The Brotherhood remains a deeply polarizing force in regional politics. Turkey and Qatar have been broadly sympathetic to its ideology, while Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates view it as a destabilizing threat. Jordan recently announced a sweeping ban on the group, citing alleged plots to carry out attacks.

Washington said its decision was based on findings that the Brotherhood’s branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon “engage in or facilitate violence and destabilization campaigns” that threaten regional stability, US citizens, and American interests.

Egyptian officials said the US designation sends a clear international signal against Islamist extremism and reinforces Cairo’s narrative that the Brotherhood poses a sustained security threat—not only domestically, but across the Middle East.