The United States on Tuesday designated the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan as terrorist organizations, moving to meet long-standing demands from some Arab allies and U.S. conservatives.
"The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
President Donald Trump, in November, set in motion the process to take action against the movement, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 and has since spread across the Arab world.
The Trump administration designated the Egyptian and Jordanian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood on the basis of their support for the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt democratically through the election of Mohammad Morsi. He was deposed in 2013 in a military coup by then military chief Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has since pursued a sweeping crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt, as well as fellow U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have long sought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood.
