The Muslim Brotherhood has promised US officials that it will uphold the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, a US State Department spokeswoman said Thursday. Her statement effectively contradicted one made last week by a top Muslim Brotherhood official, who said his party was not bound by the 1979 treaty.

Rashad al-Bayoumi, Muslim Brotherhood’s second in command, told the Al Hayat newspaper last week, "the Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum."

The Brotherhood, he added, "did not sign the peace accords … We are allowed to ask the people or the elected parliament to express their opinion on the treaty, and whether it compromised the people's freedom and sovereignty. We will take the proper legal steps in dealing with the peace deal. To me, it isn't binding at all. The people will express their opinion on the matter."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland claimed that the opposite was true at a briefing Wednesday. "We have had other assurances from the party with regard to their commitment not only to universal human rights, but to the international obligations that the government of Egypt has undertaken,” Nuland said. “As we’ve said again and again, not only with regard to Egypt but with regard to other states in that region in transition, we expect that legitimate parties will not only support universal human rights, but will also ... continue to support international obligations made by their governments.”

Specifically in response to al-Bayoumi’s statement, Nuland said, "We’ve seen this press report. I would say that it is one member of the MB.” Nuland implied that al-Bayoumi’s interview did not reflect the position of the Muslim Brotherhood at large.