The US State Department last week officially designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in a decision that went into effect on Monday.
“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 statement, authored by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, read. “Its fighters, many receiving training and other support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have conducted mass executions of civilians.”
It also stated that the US intends to formally recognize the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Rubio went on to note that the armed wing of the group, the al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, had been a designated terror group since September of last year due to its role in the “brutal” Sudanese civil war.
“As the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Iranian regime has financed and directed malign activities globally through its IRGC,” Rubio’s statement continued. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive the Iranian regime and Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
Separately, in a fact sheet published by the state department’s spokesperson’s office, the US asserted that the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood engages in “uses unrestrained violence against civilians” in order to prevent efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and to further the group’s “Islamist ideology.”
It also noted that many of the group’s 20,000 fighters who have engaged in the Sudanese conflict have received training from Iran’s IRGC and that its members have “conducted mass executions” of captured civilians, executing many on the basis of “race, ethnicity, or perceived affiliation with opposition groups.”
US designates Afghanistan as State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention
Additionally, on the same day, the US designated the SMB as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Rubio also announced the designation of Afghanistan as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention due to the Taliban’s continued “kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions.”
These crimes are “terrorist acts,” the statement noted.
“The Taliban continue to use terrorist tactics to seek policy concessions, but it won’t work under this administration,” Rubio wrote in a post to X/Twitter. “The Taliban must release Dennis Coyle, Mahmood Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan.”
In response, the Taliban on Tuesday called the US decision regrettable, and said it wanted to resolve the matter through dialog.