In March 2017, the US Department of State sanctioned Alsayed Murtadha Majeed Ramadhan Alawi, also known as Mortada al-Sanadi, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for his activities related to the Iran-backed al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB) in Bahrain.

In December 2017, the United Kingdom added the al-Ashtar Brigades to its list of Proscribed Terrorist Organisations, while the US followed up with its own designation of the group on July 10, 2018.  

The US State Department noted that in January 2018 the al-Ashtar Brigades “formally adopted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) branding” and “reaffirmed its loyalty to Tehran to reflect its role in an Iranian network of state and non-state actors that operates against the United States and its allies in the region.” 

According to the designation statement, the al-Ashtar Brigades members have also “received weapons and explosives from Iran, training at IRGC-funded camps in Iraq, and senior AAB members have taken refuge in Iran to evade prosecution by Bahraini authorities.”