Pressure is mounting on the Muslim Brotherhood following a new US sanctions decision targeting a senior leader based in the United Kingdom and affiliated entities, in Washington’s latest effort to tighten the screws on the group, which is designated a terrorist organization in several countries. A researcher specializing in extremist groups told Asharq Al-Awsat that the sanctions are consistent with previous US measures targeting the Brotherhood and some of its regional branches. He said adding the group’s secretary-general and the head of its financial network to the sanctions list would further isolate the organization and intensify pressure on it, affecting its operations and activities. The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on several individuals, including Mahmoud al-Abyari, a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood’s international organization who oversees its financial network and resides in the United Kingdom. The sanctions also target affiliated entities in Indonesia, Türkiye and Gaza, accusing them of providing financial and logistical support to Hamas. In a statement on Thursday, the Treasury accused them of raising funds, supporting organizations previously sanctioned by Washington for ties to Hamas, and diverting donations collected for civilians to military activities. According to the Treasury, the sanctions freeze all property and interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States or under the control of US persons, prohibit financial transactions with them, and expose foreign financial institutions that deal with them to potential secondary sanctions. Mounir Adib, an expert on extremist groups, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US decision carries considerable significance, particularly because Al-Abyari serves as secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s international organization — the group’s highest governing body — while also overseeing its global financial network. Adib said the sanctions are likely to have a major impact on the organization’s position, operations and financial networks, arguing that funding is the backbone of the group’s activities. He added that, in confronting the Brotherhood, the US is also seeking to weaken Hamas, which is ideologically affiliated with the group. The latest measures are part of a broader series of Western sanctions and other actions. In May 2026, President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a new national counterterrorism strategy that centered on the Muslim Brotherhood as the ideological source of modern “jihadist terrorism”. The move followed Washington’s designation in January of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as well as its branches in Jordan and Lebanon, as terrorist organizations. In March, the US added the Brotherhood’s Sudanese branch to the same list. In January, a majority in the French Parliament approved a resolution calling on the European Commission to add the Muslim Brotherhood and its leaders to the EU list of terrorist organizations. In March, the Dutch Parliament approved a motion calling for the Brotherhood and affiliated organizations to be banned, although it has yet to be implemented. Adib said the latest sanctions, together with earlier measures, represent what could be a painful blow to the Brotherhood and its organizational financial networks. He described the continuing sanctions campaign as a turning point in Western, particularly US policy toward the terrorist group in Egypt.
