Treasury and State Departments Designate Muslim Brotherhood Branches as Terrorist Organizations
WASHINGTON, DC (STL.News) The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released the following press release. For accuracy, we have published it in its original format to avoid misinformation.
Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in coordination with the Department of State, is taking action pursuant to the Administration’s policy to curtail the pernicious influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and protect the United States and its partners from Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ support for terrorism. Chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood purport to be legitimate civic organizations while, behind the scenes, they explicitly and enthusiastically support terrorist groups like Hamas. Consequently, OFAC is designating the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood for their material support to Hamas as Specially Designated Global Terrorists pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended.
“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.”
In a concurrent action, the Department of State is also designating the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood, also known as al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah, as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. In addition, the Department of State is also designating the Secretary General of the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended.
Although the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas has pledged allegiance, claims to have renounced violence, the Muslim Brotherhood branches designated today continue to promote, incite, and glorify terrorism that directly threatens the interests of the United States and its allies. These designations reflect the first actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood violence and destabilization wherever it occurs, including through additional terrorist designations. The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.
These actions are consistent with the President’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14362 of November 24, 2025, “Designation of Certain Muslim Brotherhood Chapters as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists
Muslim Brotherhood Links to Terrorism
Muslim Brotherhood branches provide significant material support to Hamas, which is inspired by, and serves as a branch of, the Muslim Brotherhood.
As of 2025, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (EMB) and Hamas coordinated on possible terrorist activities against Israeli interests in the Middle East. In mid-2025, leaders in Hamas’s military wing sought to take advantage of tensions in the Middle East and worked with the EMB to undermine and destabilize the Egyptian government, accepting Hamas funding to do so.
The EMB’s ties to Hamas also involve support for terrorism and violence. EMB members provided support to Hamas militants. For example, in 2024, individuals who wanted to travel to Gaza to fight for Hamas needed connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. Once these individuals arrived in Egypt, they connected with the Muslim Brotherhood to enter Gaza, with the Muslim Brotherhood regularly keeping Hamas abreast of their status and where and when they would bring in fighters. As of 2023, an MB member in Saudi Arabia also raised funds for Hamas and transferred the money to Hamas militants before returning to Egypt.
The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (JMB) has also materially assisted Hamas. Since early 2025, elements with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, which was officially dissolved by a Jordanian judicial verdict in 2020, have been involved in terrorism cases in Jordan. Muslim Brotherhood members in Jordan, in cooperation with entities abroad, have engaged in manufacturing rockets, explosives, and drones, as well as recruitment operations. Elements with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and abroad have facilitated this work by raising money through illegal means.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hamas.
Sanctions Implications
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, by one or more blocked persons to the extent of 50 percent or more are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in civil or criminal penalties for U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may expose participating foreign financial institutions to secondary sanctions. OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.
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