Terrorism, sabotage and drones: The story of Muslim Brotherhood testing Jordan too far

In a big change for Jordan’s politics at home and in the region, the Jordanian government officially banned the Muslim Brotherhood on April 23, 2025. This major step was announced by Interior Minister Mazin Al Farrayeh. It came after years of rising tensions, security worries and trouble in the region. The ban includes taking away the group’s property and stopping all their activities. Jordan says the group is a serious threat, accusing it of being involved in things like using drones, making explosives and getting help from other countries to cause problems.

The ban: Jordan sets a firm limit

According to The New York Times, Jordan’s Interior Ministry said the country could no longer ignore what the Brotherhood was doing. Minister Al Farrayeh said that some members of the group were secretly working against national security. This included using weapons, explosives and even advanced drone technology. Authorities also found a place where explosives were being made, linked to the son of a top Brotherhood leader. There were also efforts to destroy important documents that could link the group to these actions.

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This move is the result of years of worsening ties between the Jordanian government and the Muslim Brotherhood. The group has been active in Jordan since the 1940s. In the past, it was allowed to operate because it supported the monarchy and shared conservative values. But in recent years, Jordan’s leaders have started to see the Brotherhood as a threat to the country’s peace and stability.

A long build-up to the ban

Even though the April 2025 ban might seem sudden, it was actually the result of many steps taken over the years to shut down the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. Back in 2016, the government closed the Brotherhood’s main office in Amman. Then in 2020, the country’s top court supported the government’s decision to dissolve the group because it had not officially registered as a legal organisation. Still, the group’s political branch, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), was allowed to keep working legally and even gained support.

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But things got more serious recently. The Washington Institute reported that 16 members of the Brotherhood were arrested for having explosives and building drones. Two of them were on the group’s top leadership team. Their confessions suggested they were working with and getting money from foreign groups—possibly Hezbollah and Hamas. This showed a level of planning and danger that Jordan’s government could no longer accept.

The Brotherhood’s shift toward radicalism

Although the Muslim Brotherhood publicly said it was against violence many years ago, it has still been linked to militant actions in more recent times. Jordanian officials have long believed that some members were secretly involved in dangerous activities, even while the group spoke in a more moderate way in public. Reuters reported that some weapons found in Jordan this year were meant for use inside the country—not just to smuggle into the West Bank—and were connected to Brotherhood-linked groups that support Hamas.

This connection to Hamas is a big problem for Jordan. Ghaith al-Omari from the Washington Institute pointed out that the Brotherhood often copies Hamas’s language and organises protests where people wave Hamas flags. These protests, usually led by the Brotherhood, sometimes turn into clashes with the police, adding more pressure in a country already dealing with political tensions.

Iran’s suspected role worries Jordan

One of the most worrying things for Jordan’s security forces is the possible connection to Iran. In recent years, Iran and its allies—like Hezbollah and Hamas—have been growing stronger by smuggling weapons and spreading their ideas, especially to young people who feel left out or angry. Jordanian intelligence found plans to build drones and rockets and they suspect Iran might be involved, according to sources reported by Reuters. These actions match Iran’s bigger goal: to surround Israel with threats and weaken pro-Western governments like Jordan’s.

This isn’t new. King Abdullah once warned that Iran wanted to build a “Shi’ite crescent”—a group of powerful allies across West Asia. Even after the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, Iran kept pushing forward. And because Jordan helped the U.S. and Israel stop Iranian drones last year, it may now be more of a target.

Trump’s impact: More pressure on Jordan

There’s also a US angle to all this. Jordan’s break with the Muslim Brotherhood also comes from its uneasy relationship with US President Donald Trump. As Jesse Marks wrote in Foreign Policy, Trump’s plan to settle more Palestinian refugees in Jordan, as part of his West Asia peace deal caused a lot of concern in Amman. Jordan already has millions of Palestinian refugees and made it clear this idea was a red line.

The Muslim Brotherhood took advantage of the public anger. They led big protests, calling the king a puppet of the West. Their message got even stronger as the conflict in Gaza grew worse. Many people became more upset about Jordan’s ties to Israel and the US. By 2024, the Brotherhood’s political party—the IAF—won 31 of the 138 seats in parliament. Their campaign focussed almost completely on being against Israel and against the government, according to The New York Times.

What happens next to the IAF?

The ban on the Muslim Brotherhood brings up important questions about the future of its political wing, the IAF. Even though the IAF is officially registered as a separate party, it shares many ideas and members with the Brotherhood. That makes it unclear whether the IAF will be allowed to keep operating. According to The Washington Institute, the IAF’s strong performance in the 2024 elections surprised even Jordan’s top intelligence agency. This showed that many people supported the party, especially because of anger over Gaza, corruption and joblessness..

The war in Gaza has clearly changed Jordan’s political mood. Since over half of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian origin, many people feel deeply connected to what’s happening in Gaza. King Abdullah has tried to balance things—speaking out against Israeli attacks while still working with Israel on security matters. But it’s getting harder to keep that balance as public anger grows. People are reacting strongly to the violence, images from the war and a feeling that their leaders are not doing enough.

Journalist Bassam Badari said that the gap between what the government says and what the people feel grew even wider after Jordan helped stop Iranian missiles headed toward Israel. After that, social media exploded with fake pictures of the king wrapped in the Israeli flag along with accusations that he had betrayed the Palestinian cause. The Brotherhood used this anger to its advantage, leading protests that made the king and government seem like they were helping the enemy and ignoring Palestinian suffering.

A threat to the monarchy?

The Brotherhood’s defiance—combined with foreign entanglements and increased radicalism—has brought it into direct conflict with the core of Jordan’s security apparatus. By allegedly crossing “red lines” set by the palace, the group has turned from a political adversary into what is now treated as a national security threat. This was exemplified by King Abdullah’s February speech to military veterans, in which he condemned unnamed actors for “receiving orders from abroad”—a clear reference to the Brotherhood.

This deterioration in relations is not without precedent. The 1970 conflict known as Black September saw Jordanian forces battling Palestinian factions after the latter attempted to challenge the authority of the monarchy. While the current crisis has not escalated to that level, the parallels are concerning. As Jesse Marks points out, Jordan’s stability cannot be taken for granted. A miscalculated crackdown or a spiralling public backlash could trigger a wider crisis.

A precarious future

Jordan’s ban on the Muslim Brotherhood marks more than just a security clampdown—it is a statement of political intent in a kingdom that is increasingly under pressure from all sides. Internally, the move could inflame tensions with a population already reeling from economic hardship and war-induced trauma. Externally, it signals to Iran, Hamas and potentially the US administration that Jordan will not tolerate covert destabilisation or populist movements that flirt with terrorism.

What happens next will depend on whether the Brotherhood chooses to fight back politically or quietly reorganise. For Jordan, the choices are equally fraught: clamp down too hard and risk backlash or show leniency and invite further defiance. Either way, the era of quiet coexistence with the Brotherhood appears to be over.