Why did Egypt designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2013?

In December 2013, the Egyptian government officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization following a suicide bombing outside a police station. While the Brotherhood denied involvement in that specific attack, the designation occurred within the context of a broader, state-led crackdown on the group following the military-backed removal of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.123

Prior to this formal designation, a Cairo court had already moved in September 2013 to restore a Mubarak-era ban on the group, freezing its activities and those of its affiliates. The government’s actions were framed as a necessary measure to confront violence and instability, which had escalated significantly following Morsi's ouster and the subsequent dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins. Opponents of the group have long cited its historical ties to militancy and its association with groups like Hamas to argue that the organization is inherently destabilizing, despite the Brotherhood’s renunciation of violence in the 1970s.2314