Jordanian police and security forces shut down the Amman headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood party on Wednesday, a spokesman for the party said.
Government officials in Jordan didn’t immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. But Badi Rafaya, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, claimed the authorities acted on Wednesday morning.
“We consider the move unlawful and politically motivated — any decision of that kind should be in the hands of the courts only,” Rafaya said.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a political movement that has been established (and in some cases, as in Egypt, been pushed out) in countries around the Middle East. Founded in 1928, its members advocate a move away from secularism and toward guidelines set forth in the Quran to serve as the basis for family life, communities and governments.
The group has repeatedly called for political reform in Jordan. It has also become a target of authorities there.
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and author of “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes,” said last year King Abdullah II’s government had “cracked down on the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood” under pressure from the United Arab Emirates.
That said, it is possible that the security forces’ actions aren’t part of a broader political crackdown, but rather stem from unrelated cases involving the Muslim Brotherhood now in Jordanian courts. There has been a split in the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, with the larger faction being the target Wednesday.