The Trump administration designated another branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization Monday, marking its fourth such designation in an effort to curb the Islamic extremist group active throughout the world.
The designation targets the Muslim Brotherhood’s Sudanese chapter, whose fighters the Trump administration says received training from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and carried out mass executions.
The State Department said the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood — composed of the Sudanese Islamic Movement and its armed wing, the al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade (BBMB) — uses “unrestrained violence against civilians” to advance its violent Islamist ideology and undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan.
In January, the Trump administration designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, including affiliates in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) and the administration said it intends to classify the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), the most severe designation, which criminalizes providing material support under federal law. The SDGT designation allows the Treasury Department to freeze assets and block financial transactions.
“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 State Department said.
The group contributed more than 20,000 fighters to Sudan’s civil war, which has displaced about 12 million people and may have caused as many as 400,000 deaths, according to the former U.S. envoy to Sudan.
According to the State Department, many of the fighters received training and other support from the IRGC, and members of the BBMB have carried out mass executions of civilians in captured areas, including killings based on race, ethnicity, or suspected affiliation with opposition groups.
“Its fighters, many receiving training and other support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have conducted mass executions of civilians,” the statement added. “As the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranian regime has financed and directed malign activities globally through its IRGC.”
It added that the U.S. will continue to “use all available tools to deprive the Iranian regime and Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
The Treasury Department previously designated BBMB in September 2025 under Executive Order 14098 for its role in Sudan’s brutal civil war.
Under the new designation, all property and financial interests belonging to the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood that fall within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. citizens and businesses are prohibited from conducting transactions with the organization.
The State Department warned that foreign individuals or companies that engage in certain dealings with the group could also face secondary sanctions under U.S. counterterrorism authorities.
The designation is scheduled to take effect on March 16.
The designation follows Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) issuing state-level orders in late 2025 labeling the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations.
CAIR, which describes itself as the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the United States, responded by suing both states and denying that it supports terrorism. After DeSantis issued his order, the group accused the Florida governor of being “Israel first.”
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, an Islamist schoolteacher who sought to build a movement dedicated to implementing Islamic law and resisting Western influence in the Muslim world. It is one of the most influential movements in the Middle East and Africa, and has spawned terrorist groups, including Hamas.
