(JNS.org) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially designated 83 groups as terrorist organizations on Saturday, Nov. 15, including two U.S.-based Muslim organizations – the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society (MAS). Other terrorist groups blacklisted by the UAE include al-Qaeda and its Syrian affiliate the al-Nusra Front, Islamic State, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Emirates News Agency reported.

CAIR has close ties with the Hamas terrorist group and its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2007, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the FBI’s case against the Hamas-linked Holy Land Foundation, which was eventually found guilty of aiding Hamas. MAS also has purported ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. According to an investigation by the Chicago Tribune, MAS was partially formed by U.S.-based Muslim Brotherhood members.

The UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia have stepped up cooperation against Islamic extremism. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are participating in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, while Egypt has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood as well as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the Sinai-based terror group which recently declared allegiance to Islamic State.