The U.S. State Department designated the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization on Monday, adding it to a growing list of sanctioned Muslim Brotherhood offshoots across the Middle East.
The department specifically designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and intends to add the group to its Foreign Terrorist Organization list effective on March 16.
“The Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood uses unrestrained violence against civilians to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and advance its violent Islamist ideology,” the department said in a statement, linking the group to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and accusing it of receiving training and support from Tehran.
The move builds on earlier U.S. sanctions targeting Islamist actors in Sudan’s civil war. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Al-Baraa bin Malik Brigade, an armed faction tied to the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, for its role in the conflict and alleged links to Iran.
The brigade has fought alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces in the country’s war against the Rapid Support Forces. Last week, the Sudanese military reportedly arrested the brigade’s commander, Al-Naji Abdullah, after he publicly threatened to send fighters to Iran if Washington or Jerusalem launched a ground operation against Tehran.
“Our rifles and cannons are ready, and we possess advanced generations of drones,” Abdullah said, adding, “By God, we will send all our battalions to Iran, and you will find us there.”
The Sudan designation is part of a broader U.S. campaign against Muslim Brotherhood branches accused of supporting terrorism.
In January, the United States designated the Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as specially designated global terrorists, citing their support for the Hamas terrorist organization.
The State Department also designated the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization and sanctioned its secretary-general, Muhammad Fawzi Taqqosh, as a specially designated global terrorist.
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,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at the time. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
According to U.S. officials, the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood coordinated with Hamas and Hezbollah in launching rocket attacks at Israel following the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023. The Egyptian and Jordanian branches were also cited for providing material support to Hamas.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump directed Rubio and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent last year to review Muslim Brotherhood branches worldwide for possible sanctions.
The broader Muslim Brotherhood network maintains political and organizational hubs in countries including Qatar and Turkey, both U.S. partners in the region. No Brotherhood-linked entities in those countries have been sanctioned.
