The State Department imposed sanctions on the son of deceased al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Thursday.
U.S. officials added Hamza bin Laden to its terrorism blacklist after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri formally named him as a member of the terrorist group, according to a State Department press release.
The Obama administration uncovered a 2015 audio recording in which the younger bin Laden had called for jihadists to launch attacks against Western capitals, specifically Washington, D.C., Paris, and Tel Aviv.
The State Department names individuals to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists after they are "determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security." The classification automatically invokes sanctions on the individual.
The Obama administration also imposed penalties against bin Laden's older son, Ibrahim al-Banna, who serves as a senior leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Osama bin Laden, who founded al Qaeda, was killed by U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan in 2011.
