Washington: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designation of three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as terrorist organizations, vowing further measures against the international organization.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, this announcement came as part of an official decision by the US State Department and the Treasury Department, imposing financial and criminal sanctions on these branches and their members, including asset freezes and transaction bans.

In an official statement, Rubio said, “These designations reflect the first steps in a sustained and continuous effort to disrupt the acts of violence and destabilization perpetrated by Muslim Brotherhood branches wherever they are found,” emphasizing that the United States “will use all available tools to deny these branches the resources necessary to practice or support terrorism.”

He noted that the Egyptian and Jordanian branches were designated as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” for their support of Hamas, while the Lebanese branch was designated a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the most severe designation. He considered this a “first step” in a broad campaign to thwart its violent activities and support for terrorism.

This decision implements an executive order signed by Trump in November 2015, directing Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bissett to begin the designation process.

Previous attempts to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in the United States occurred during Trump’s first administration (2017-2021), but these failed due to legal complexities, as the group does not operate as a unified entity but rather as independent branches.