Jordan accused the Muslim Brotherhood of planning attacks in the country and introduced a blanket ban against the group on Wednesday, in a move that could shutter the nation’s largest opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, the group’s political arm in Jordan.
The Islamic Action Front won a foothold in Parliament last year after campaigning against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
Here’s more about the Muslim Brotherhood and its reach across the Middle East.
What is the Muslim Brotherhood?
The Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Islamist movement founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher in Egypt, who argued that a religious renewal would help the Muslim world fend off colonialism and Western influence.
He was sometimes contradictory about the group’s focus and avoided defining what an Islamic government would look like. Mr. al-Banna was assassinated in 1949 at the age of 43.
The group’s doctrine, nonetheless, spread across the region, where many political movements, which operate loosely and independently, trace their roots to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Some related groups use the Muslim Brotherhood in their names, but others do not. Similarly, some groups are explicitly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, while others are offshoots or descendants.
The Muslim Brotherhood has denounced violence, but some people who become frustrated with the group’s stance have left for more militant organizations, like Al Qaeda.
What happened in Jordan?
The announcement on Wednesday came a week after Jordanian security services said that they had arrested 16 people accused of threatening national security with weapons and explosives, and plans to make drones.
The Jordanian interior minister, Mazin Al Farrayeh, suggested in a news conference that the plot was connected to the group, saying that “elements of the Muslim Brotherhood” had “worked in darkness to carry out activities that undermine stability and tamper with security and national unity.”
The Muslim Brotherhood did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jordan’s ban.
This is not the first time that Jordan has moved against the group.
In 2016, Jordan closed the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in Amman, the capital, and in 2020, a court took steps toward disbanding the group. But the Islamic Action Front was allowed to continue operations.
Experts say that Jordan’s sweeping ban on Wednesday may be related to global pushback against Hamas, which was founded by a man active in the Muslim Brotherhood during the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza.
“My guess is that the Jordanian government feels pressured by the Trump administration’s keenness to push people from the Gaza Strip to other countries,” said Jon B. Alterman, the director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. But he said the reasoning was ultimately unclear.
“There is a way in which Gaza is in play now, which creates domestic concerns for the Jordanian government, which may make them less tolerant of political opposition and make them more fearful of domestic unrest,” he added.
A large portion of Jordan’s population is Palestinian, and Jordan has experienced local discontent over the war in Gaza, especially after the Jordanian government supported Israel in downing Iranian missiles last spring.
An internal rift in Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood has been growing in recent years. Moderate members want to calm tensions between the government and the group, while more aggressive factions favor of challenging the country’s rulers on rights and reforms.
How is the group viewed around the world?
During President Trump’s first term, his administration considered labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, which would have imposed broad travel and economic restrictions on people who interact with the far-flung and loosely knit group.
The proposal roiled the Middle East and was met with criticism from officials and experts, who said the move could have unintended consequences.
Some Muslim Brotherhood movements in Arab countries have championed democratic elections, causing friction in places led by authoritarian governments.
The group’s support has dwindled in places where it was once popular, such as Egypt and Tunisia, in part because governments have cracked down on the group. In Egypt, for example, the military deposed the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader who was elected amid the Arab Spring. The country’s leaders in 2013 banned the group and imprisoned many of its members.
What’s next for the Islamic Action Front?
It is not immediately clear how the ban will affect the Islamic Action Front’s operations.
The police surrounded the group’s headquarters in Amman on Wednesday, and in a news conference, the party’s secretary general, Wael Saqqa, said members were surprised by the searches the authorities conducted but had voluntarily complied.
The Islamic Action Front did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vivian Nereim, David D. Kirkpatrick and Rana F. Sweis contributed reporting.
