US removes Syria from 'state sponsor of terrorism' list in 'historic' step

The United States on Monday removed Syria from its blacklist of "State Sponsors of Terrorism" after over 40 years, in a move described as a "historic step" for the country.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the removal "will help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability".

Bessent added the moves were "in line with President (Donald) Trump's promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria".

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa welcomed the move, saying: "Today, Syria shakes off a dark stain and tears away a painful chapter of its past to embark on a path of development, reconstruction and rebuilding".

Al-Sharaa thanked US President Donald Trump, as well as countries that have supported Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani described Washington's delisting as a "historic milestone", while Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh described the move as a "success for Syrian diplomacy".

The designation made Syria a high-risk, heavily restricted jurisdiction in the US-led financial and trade system, impacting it on all fronts, including legal, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian.

"It's really the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to trying to not only provide the boost to the post-war Syrian economy and Syrian reconstruction efforts, but additionally, the boost that many of Syria's security and political agencies will need to build capacity after the fall of the Assad regime," Caroline Rose, Senior Director at The Soufan Center, told The New Arab.

"The designation carried a lot of weight when it came to providing dual-use items, military assistance, also collaborating directly with Syrian defence and security agencies and forces, and so as a result, this is going to, I think, open up a whole new portal, so to speak, when it comes to US security and defence collaboration with the new Syrian administration."

Syria was subject to restrictions on US foreign assistance, a ban on defence exports and sales, strict controls on exports of dual-use goods and technology, and financial and other miscellaneous restrictions.

Yazan Al-Saadi, The New Arab's International desk editor, says the move "will untangle a lot of the day-to-day challenges that Syrians and Syrian institutions face when they try to work within the international financial sphere".

"There is hope that this will alleviate a lot of the economic pressures facing the country at the moment after 15 years of a brutal civil war uprising as well as the fallout from what's going on worldwide with price increases, gas increases," Al-Saadi added.

"This is another obstacle removed for them."

The US initially announced in July its intention to delist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, in a move seen as a vote of confidence in Sharaa.

The US Department of State has also removed the designation of al-Nusra Front, which later became known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a global terrorist organisation. HTS rebels, led by al-Sharaa, overthrew Syria's long-running ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The Treasury Department announced corresponding sanctions relief, while asserting that its removal of restrictions on Syria "does not change Treasury's posture with regards to countering global terrorism and our commitment to hold bad actors in Syria accountable".

Fadel Abdulghany, founder of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), cautioned that the moves by the US "must not be portrayed as full normalisation".

"Delisting does not remove targeted sanctions against individuals and entities implicated in serious human rights abuses, illicit finance, terrorism or other destabilising conduct," Abdulghany said.

"Nor does it resolve the structural challenges that continue to deter responsible investment, including weak public institutions, uncertainty over property rights, lack of judicial independence, corruption, damaged infrastructure and ongoing insecurity."

Syria was first blacklisted by the US in 1979, making the designation one of the longest-standing, lasting throughout the Assad family's rule.

Al-Saadi notes that the blacklisting had a negative impact on how Syrians were perceived, and hopes that the new move will change this.

"With Syria being on such a list and so forth, Syrians have been vilified for a long, long time and they continue to be, I would say, as terrorists, as Barbarians, as savages," he said.

"For Syrians in particular, they've been dehumanised for so long that maybe it's time to start humanising them more and more in a very natural and much needed way, just like other people, Palestinians and so forth."

The blacklisting concerned successive Syrian governments' support and logistical assistance for armed groups that Washington classified as terrorist organisations. The listing was also not internationally agreed.

Other countries on the list include Iran, North Korea and Cuba. States included in the list are accused of providing support for "acts of international terrorism".