The United States today ordered a freeze on assets of the militant group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The group has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group to its list of suspected terrorists and terrorism financiers.
The move, which came a day after Britain ordered banks to seek out and freeze any assets of the group, blocks any accounts, funds and assets of Tawhid and Jihad in the United States.
Zarqawi's network has emerged as the United States' top enemy in Iraq, and has claimed responsibility for a long list of attacks including two suicide bombings in Baghdad yesterday which killed at least five people including three Americans.
The group also beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley last week and Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley last month.
Officials concede that it was unlikely Tawhid and Jihad would hold bank accounts in its own name. But the designation could be seen as a first step that would allow the freezing of funds of anyone who could be shown to have ties to it.