Designated ISIS Branches and Individuals

Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 27, 2018

The Department of State has designated 40 ISIS leaders and operatives under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, and will continue to target the group to deny it access to the U.S. financial system. These designations are part of a larger comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS that, in coordination with the 75-member Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, has made significant progress toward that goal. This whole-of-government effort is destroying ISIS in its safe havens, denying its ability to recruit foreign terrorist fighters, stifling its financial resources, negating the false propaganda it disseminates over the internet and social media, and helping to stabilize liberated areas in Iraq and Syria so the displaced can return to their homes and begin to rebuild their lives.

The Department of State is authorized to designate Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and to designate Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under E.O. 13224. While only organizations can be designated as FTOs, a wider range of persons can be designated by the Department of State as SDGTs – including terrorist groups, leaders, and members of terrorist groups, as well as other individuals and entities that have committed or pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments.