Syria is no longer subject to restrictions imposed by U.S. regulations on governments of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism. The United States has removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, in another step by the Trump administration to ease sanctions on the new Syrian government following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Syria is no longer subject to restrictions imposed by U.S. regulations on governments of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the decision was “made in recognition of the positive actions taken and further commitments” by President Ahmed al-Sharaa to “fully distance Syria from acts of international terrorism.”
Al-Sharaa welcomed the decision in a statement to X. He thanked Trump and said Syria was turning a “page from its painful past, in order to embark on the path of development and reconstruction.” Syria had been on the blacklist since 1979, when Washington accused the government of former President Hafez al-Assad of supporting armed groups. That designation remained in place throughout the rule of his son, Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown by rebels led by al-Sharaa in December 2024.
