First posted on Instagram
The United States on Saturday publicly commended Egypt for permanently designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist entity, backing a crackdown that bans the group's activities, closes its offices and freezes its assets under Egyptian law. Senior adviser Massad Boulos announced the praise on X, saying Washington stands with Cairo in confronting the group's violence.
Until now the listing was temporary and had to be renewed through the courts — the last extension, in December 2025, ran five years. Now it stands permanently unless a court overturns it, so the ban on the group's activities, meetings and fundraising, the closure of its premises and the freezing of its assets no longer expire. For Washington, it locks in a partner in the campaign against a network the United States designated in January over alleged support for Hamas.
Boulos put the American position in a post on X on Saturday: "The United States commends Egypt for permanently designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist entity. Freezing assets and cutting off financing deny terrorists the resources they need. We stand with Egypt confronting Muslim Brotherhood violence and destabilization."
The Brotherhood rejects the label. In a statement on January 13, it said it "categorically reject[s]" the American designation and "unequivocally den[ies]" directing, funding or supporting terrorism, calling itself "a peaceful civic and social movement committed to reform through lawful and democratic means." Human Rights Watch has repeatedly accused the Egyptian authorities of using terrorism charges to suppress peaceful dissent, and Anas al-Tikriti — one of the 36 people named in the November 10 court order — accused Cairo of seeking to silence Muslim political participation and dissent in Western countries.
The decision was published in the official gazette on November 8, Egypt's Public Prosecution said, replacing a temporary designation issued in December 2022. It follows a Cairo Criminal Court judgment from May 2023, upheld by the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest appeals court, on April 2, 2026. Under Law No. 8 of 2015, the designation bans the group's activities, meetings and fundraising, requires its premises to close and its assets to be frozen. Three men convicted under final rulings — Abdel Rahman Hassan Mohamed Meligy, Jamal Abdel Hamid Jomaa and Osama Ibrahim Mohamed Mostafa — were also permanently added to the list.
On November 10, a Cairo criminal court placed 35 entities and 36 individuals, many of them Europe-linked, on Egypt's terrorism lists for five years — among them the Council of European Muslims, Muslims of France, the Muslim Association of Britain and the European Council for Fatwa and Research. The move followed an October 8 European Parliament resolution, passed 381 to 167, calling for tougher measures against organisations allegedly linked to the Brotherhood.
The praise follows American action against the group's branches. On November 24, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the State and Treasury Departments to assess Brotherhood chapters for designation. On January 13, the State Department designated the Lebanese chapter a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designation of the Lebanese, Egyptian and Jordanian chapters as terrorist groups.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, working with the State Department, designated the Egyptian and Jordanian branches as Specially Designated Global Terrorists for alleged material support to Hamas, and on March 9 the Sudanese chapter was added. Trump warned on Thursday, in an interview with the Salem News Channel, that the Brotherhood's threat reaches beyond the Middle East to Europe and the United States.
The designation now stands permanently unless a competent court decides otherwise, and the 35 entities and 36 individuals named on November 10 stay on Egypt's terrorism lists for five years. Washington and Cairo are now moving together against the group's networks — the United States through its designations, Egypt through a listing that no longer expires.