Muslim Brotherhood Needs to Be the Next Target After Iran’s Mullahs
- The Muslim Brotherhood is no less dangerous than the Iranian regime. While banned as a terrorist organization in some Arab countries, it maintains a presence in the Middle East and operates through networks and affiliates in Western countries through various organizations, think tanks and charities that promote its Islamist ideology.
- The Muslim Brotherhood cannot be eliminated through military action. Fighting this movement involves a multifaceted, long-term approach combining legal designations, financial restrictions, and ideological counter-messaging. Key strategies include designating affiliates as terrorist organizations, dismantling financial networks, and limiting their influence in education and religious institutions.
- The Muslim Brotherhood and Iran’s regime share a deadly hatred of the West, advocate the destruction of Israel, and seek to undermine Arab and Islamic states that are moderate or pro-Western. Both have supported Hamas (the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood) and aim to unify the Muslim world (ummah) under a shared political-religious vision.
- [Leading Muslim Brotherhood member Sayyid] Qutb saw Islam as a liberation movement requiring active struggle — including violence — to overthrow regimes that obstruct God’s law…. and he advocated violent, offensive jihad.
- “Osama bin Laden also clearly identified with Qutb’s Islamist ideology. As mentioned earlier, while a student at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden was tutored by Qutb’s brother, Muhammad… Militarily, the al-Qa’ida leadership has adopted Qutb’s understanding of jihad and embraced his overall objective… By appropriating Qutb’s interpretation of the justification for jihad, al-Qa’ida has been able to rationalise war against the United States.”
- The US government recently designated certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood (specifically in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon) as foreign terrorist organizations, following US President Donald J. Trump’s November 2025 executive order to begin that process. Trump’s order and the subsequent designation were good steps in the right direction, but they are hopelessly insufficient. The entire organization should be banned. There is no reason why the Trump administration should not follow the actions of Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and officially designate the entire Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. It is meaningless to get rid of the Iranian regime while allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to continue serving as an inspiration to Islamist terrorists.
- The Muslim Brotherhood’s reaction to the US-Israeli attack on the Iranian regime includes an appeal to Muslims to rise against the US and Israel. This call should be treated by the US and the rest of the West as a declaration of war by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood seriously needs to be the next target after the mullahs of Iran.




