The United States is targeting people who undermine peace and stability in Sudan. The Department of the Treasury is sanctioning two Sudanese Islamist actors – Gebreil Ibrahim Mohamed Fediel and the Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, or BBMB, for their involvement in Sudan’s brutal civil war and their connections to Iran.
Gebreil is Sudan’s Finance Minister and chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement, a Darfuri armed group with historical links to Hassan al Turabi, the architect of Sudan’s Islamist revolution. Additionally, Gebreil has collaborated with the Iranian government with the intent of strengthening political and economic ties and traveled to Tehran in November 2024.
BBMB is a Sudan-based, Islamist militia that traces its origins to Sudan’s Popular Defense Forces, an Islamist paramilitary organization associated with the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir who ruled Sudan for 30 years until 2019.
Sanctions against these actors seek to limit Islamist influence in Sudan and curtail Iran’s regional activities that have contributed to regional destabilization, conflict, and civilian suffering.
Recently, Sudanese Islamists have played a key role in derailing Sudan’s progress toward a democratic transition, by undermining the former civilian-led transitional government and the Framework Political Agreement process. This conduct contributed to the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. Since then, an estimated 150,000 people have been killed, and more than 14 million have been displaced, giving rise to the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Hardline Islamists continue to obstruct efforts to reach a ceasefire to end the war and are cultivating ties with and receiving technical support from the Iranian government, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
“Sudanese Islamist groups have formed dangerous alliances with the Iranian regime. We will not stand by idly and allow them to threaten regional and global security,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley. “The Treasury Department is using our powerful sanctions tools to disrupt this activity and protect U.S. national security.”
These sanctions hold malign actors accountable for sowing instability and destruction in Sudan with the help of Iran. The United States is committed to working with regional partners to achieve peace and stability in Sudan ensuring that the country does not become a safe haven for those who threaten Americans and the national interests of the United States.
The U.S. government will use its tools to ensure that Sudanese Islamists never regain power in Sudan.
The Department of the Treasury is sanctioning two Sudanese Islamist actors – Gebreil Ibrahim Mohamed Fediel and the Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade, or BBMB, for their involvement in Sudan’s brutal civil war and their connections to Iran.