The United States has formally ended Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, removing a major legal barrier to trade, investment and reconstruction as the Trump administration expands relations with President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The United States formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism Monday, ending a designation that had remained in place since 1979 and clearing one of the most significant remaining legal obstacles to deeper American economic engagement with the country.
The change took effect after a congressional review period expired Friday without lawmakers blocking the Trump administration’s decision.
Syria had spent 47 years on the State Department’s terrorism list, where it had been grouped with Iran, North Korea and Cuba.
President Donald Trump reposted an announcement from Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani celebrating the removal.
“We have closed a dark chapter in Syria’s history by lifting the classification imposed on it due to the policies of the defunct regime in 1979,” Shaibani said, thanking Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. envoy Tom Barrack for supporting Syria.
The state sponsor designation had carried sweeping restrictions affecting U.S. foreign assistance, defense sales and exports of certain goods and technologies.
Its removal could make it easier for American companies to enter Syria as the country attempts to rebuild after years of civil war, destruction and international isolation.
The decision follows a broader effort by the Trump administration to normalize relations with Syria’s new leadership after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former rebel leader who was previously designated a terrorist by the United States, led the coalition that ousted Assad.
Trump has increasingly treated Sharaa’s government as a potential partner in efforts to stabilize Syria and reconnect the country with the international economy.
The administration formally notified Congress of its intention to remove Syria from the terrorism list after Trump met with Sharaa last month on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
That meeting continued a diplomatic opening that began when the two leaders first met in May 2025.
During that meeting, Trump pledged to begin dismantling the broad network of U.S. sanctions accumulated during Assad’s rule.
Over the following year, the administration moved steadily in that direction.
Washington eased some export restrictions, revoked the terrorist designation applied to Sharaa’s former militant organization and worked with Congress to eliminate sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act.
The removal of Syria from the state sponsors of terrorism list represents another major step in that process.
For American businesses, particularly technology companies, the designation had continued to complicate investment and exports even after other sanctions were relaxed.
Certain equipment, software and other products still required special U.S. government licenses before they could legally be exported to Syria.
With the terrorism designation now removed, some of those restrictions could become easier to modify or eliminate as federal agencies update their Syria policies.
The Commerce Department could issue additional guidance concerning Syria-related export controls by the end of August, according to a U.S. official, although that process could extend beyond that timetable.
The administration’s policy represents a significant change from decades of American treatment of Damascus.
For much of the Assad era, Syria was subjected to extensive U.S. sanctions and diplomatic isolation over terrorism concerns, regional military activities and the conduct of the Syrian government.
The political order changed dramatically after Assad was overthrown in December 2024.
Sharaa subsequently emerged as the country’s new leader despite his own history as a rebel commander and his previous designation by Washington.
Rather than maintaining the full sanctions structure inherited from the Assad period, Trump has argued for giving the new government an opportunity to stabilize Syria and attract the investment needed for reconstruction.
Monday’s action removes one of the broadest legal restrictions still standing in the way of that strategy.
Although individual sanctions, export controls and restrictions can remain separate from the state sponsor designation, Syria’s removal from the list significantly changes the legal and commercial environment surrounding U.S. dealings with the country.
The decision also reflects the rapid transformation in Washington’s relationship with Damascus since Assad’s ouster, moving from decades of isolation toward direct engagement with a government led by a former insurgent once sanctioned by the United States.
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