ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US officially revoked Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and delisted Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), fulfilling President Donald Trump's pledge to provide sanctions relief to the post-Assad government.
"In line with President Trump's promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, the U.S. Department of State today removed Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism," the Treasury Department stated in an amended decision.
“Accordingly, Syria is no longer subject to prohibitions” under the relevant government designations, the US Treasury stated, noting the removal of the HTS from the "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" (SDGT) list as well as the "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List."
Interim Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa served as the leader of the Sunni-led HTS, which spearheaded a sweeping campaign toward Damascus in late 2024 that led to the ouster of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa dissolved the group in January 2025, when he announced the interim government with him at its helm.
“As a result, Syria General License (GL) 25, which authorized certain transactions that could otherwise have been prohibited due to the role of HTS in the Syrian government, is no longer necessary,” the Treasury Department stated.
Hailing the decision, Safwat Raslan, the governor of Syria's central bank, said that "it is a historic step that restores the country to its natural place in the global economic system."
The central bank was "working to build a modern and reliable financial system," he added in a post on X.
The decision came after Sharaa received a signed letter from Trump in early January stating that he had informed the US Congress regarding his decision to remove Syria from its state-sponsor of terrorism designation, a list Syria has been on since 1979 as one of the initial countries when the directory was first assembled by the US State Department.
The US has put significant support to Sharaa and his government, removing primary and secondary sanctions against them.
In May 2025, Trump announced plans to lift broad, economy-wide sanctions on Syria. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers sanctions, issued General License 25 to authorize previously prohibited transactions.
In late June in the same year, Trump signed an executive order revoking six prior orders that formed the sanctions framework, effective July 1. Accordingly, OFAC removed 518 individuals and entities, including the Central Bank of Syria, from the Specially Designated Nationals List.
Of note, he repealed the Caesar Act and its sweeping secondary sanctions in late 2025. The restrictions of the act had heavily penalized non-US companies, individuals and international banks for conducting business in Syria.
