The United States has officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan as a terrorist organization, part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s expanded crackdown on groups it accuses of promoting violence and extremism.
The State Department said Monday that the group receives support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington said further increases the security threat the group poses to the region.
The United States has added the group to its “Specially Designated Nationals (SDGT) list,” which allows the U.S. government to impose economic sanctions. Washington also said it will formally add it to its “Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list” next week, making it illegal for anyone to provide financial support to it.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan “uses indiscriminate violence against civilians to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and to promote its violent Islamist ideology.”
Washington has also accused the group’s fighters of being involved in mass killings of civilians during the ongoing civil war in Sudan, where government forces are battling the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF and its supporters have repeatedly claimed to be fighting forces affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The RSF itself has been accused of serious human rights abuses during the country’s civil war.
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, welcomed the US decision. The UAE Foreign Ministry said Washington’s move reflects its ongoing efforts to stop violence against civilians and what it described as destabilizing activities in Sudan.
In January of this year, the Trump administration had already blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations in Lebanon, Jordan and Sudan, although the organizations have publicly denied the allegations.
