Jordan has imposed a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, the country?s most vocal opposition group, after members of the group were found to be linked to a sabotage plot, Minister of the Interior Mazin Fraya said.

Police surrounded the party?s headquarters on Wednesday and were searching it.

Fraya said all the activities of the group would be banned and anyone promoting its ideology would be held accountable by law.

The ban includes publishing anything by the group and the closure and confiscation of all its offices and property, he added.

There was no immediate comment from the group, which has operated legally in Jordan for decades and has widespread grassroots support in major urban centres and dozens of offices across the country.

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), a political party linked to the regionwide group, won the most seats in parliamentary elections last year against the backdrop of mass protests against Israel over its war on Gaza.

In a press conference later on Wednesday, the IAF sought to distance itself from the MB, saying it would continue to operate as a fully independent Jordanian political party with no affiliation to any other entity, and ?within the limits of the law?.

IAF?s Secretary-General Wael al-Saqqa, speaking at the party?s headquarters in Amman, said the party will work to ?defend the interests of the nation and its citizens, to safeguard Jordan?s security and stability, and to engage constructively with national and regional issues?.

Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago but officially licensed a splinter group and continued to tolerate the Islamic Action Front while restricting some of its activities. It was not immediately clear how far the latest ban would go.

?It has been proven that members of the group operate in the dark and engage in activities that could destabilise the country,? the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. ?Members of the dissolved Muslim Brotherhood have tampered with security and national unity, and disrupted security and public order.?

It said a son of one of the group?s leaders had joined others in trying to manufacture and test explosives to be used against security forces, without providing names or further details.

Last week, Jordan said it had arrested 16 people accused of manufacturing short-range missiles, possessing explosives and automatic weapons, concealing a ready-to-use missile, and illegally recruiting and training people.

The government said the accused belonged to what it called ?unlicensed groups,? referring to the Muslim Brotherhood. The group denied the allegations and said it was committed to Jordan?s security.

Jordan also attributed a foiled plot in 2024 to Muslim Brotherhood members in Jordan.

The group?s members have led some of the largest protests in the region against Israel?s war on Gaza. The group?s opponents say the protests allowed them to increase their popularity. Over the last two years, Jordan has been tightening restrictions on the group, forbidding some of its activities and arresting vocal antigovernment dissenters.

International rights groups say that in the last four years, Jordanian authorities have intensified the persecution and harassment of political opponents and citizens using a string of laws to silence critical voices. The Jordanian government says it tolerates public speech that does not incite violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood was established in Egypt nearly a century ago and has branches across the world. Its leaders say it renounced violence decades ago and seeks Islamic rule through elections and other peaceful means. Critics, including autocratic governments across the region, view it as a threat. (ALJAZEERA)

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