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U.S. delists Syria
The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after the designation had been in place since 1979, following the restoration of relations between the two countries in 2025.
“Today, I authorized the formal revocation of the designation of Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, "Today, I authorized the formal revocation of the designation of Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST" after the completion of the obligatory 45-day congressional notification period.
The U.S. also announced it no longer considers Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) a "global terrorist organization," with the article linking HTS to Ahmed al-Sharaa, described as the current Syrian president.
Al Jazeera Net reported that the deadline for reviewing the decision to lift Syria’s designation ended yesterday, Saturday, removing a procedural obstacle to completing the step.
Syrian Foreign Ministry adviser for American affairs Jihad Makdessi said the expiry of the deadline does not automatically erase the designation at that exact moment, adding that it enables the American administration to move to the final execution step.
Damascus welcomes, officials explain
Damascus welcomed the U.S. move, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad thanking U.S. President Donald Trump and describing the decision as historic in a recorded speech.
In a post on X, Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shihabani wrote, "We congratulate our people on this historic event of lifting Syria’s name from the list of states that sponsor terrorism, after 47 years of classification".
Al Jazeera Net said a notice from the U.S. Treasury showed that the State Department removed Syria’s designation today, Monday, according to Reuters.
The Al-Jazeera Net report also described the next procedural steps after the 45-day period, including that the Syrian News Agency quoted its Washington correspondent as saying Rubio would publish the decision in the Federal Register and on the U.S. State Department website.
Syrian researcher Bashar Barbendi told the Syrian News Agency that the administration “did not send a memo to Congress seeking its opinion on lifting sanctions on Syria, but informed it that sanctions would be lifted within 45 days if there were no objections.”
What changes next
The articles tied the delisting to potential economic and financial effects, with Al-Jazeera Net saying removing the designation would lift restrictions on U.S. aid or military equipment and materials, electronic devices and computers, and a section pertaining to the Ministry of Economy.
“removing the designation would lift a set of related restrictions”
Al-Jazeera Net also quoted economic and financial expert Alaa Muhammad saying the consequences would positively reflect in greater integration of Syria into the global financial system and opening the field for new investments as the country needs large financial inflows to finance the reconstruction process.
The same report said the move would send a signal to American, European, and international banks that Syria is no longer listed among the targeted or highly conservative countries in dealing with it, potentially easing risk assessment and compliance concerns.
Al-Monitor reported that the designation carried restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance, defense sales and the export of certain dual-use goods, and that the SST label was a key legal reason many tech products including equipment and software require licenses to export to Syria.
In Damascus, the U.S. step was described as a “historic milestone” and a “decisive step” by U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Baron, who said it marked Syria’s journey from isolation to partnership and from a source of terrorism to a committed partner in global efforts to combat it.