The U.S. announced yesterday, Monday, that it had removed Syria from the list of countries that support terrorism—a list on which the country had been included for 47 years—thereby removing “the last major obstacles” to private investment in the country and its reintegration into the global economy.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had announced in early July its intention to remove Syria from that list, less than two years after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by a coalition of jihadists in December 2024.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Furthermore, the U.S. has removed the organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly the al-Nusra Front, as well as its leader, the current President of Syria, Ahmad al-Sara, from the list of key organizations and entities designated as terrorist (Specially Designated Global Terrorist).
Once a branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, the al-Nusra Front announced in 2016 that it was severing ties with al-Qaeda and renamed itself Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated yesterday that the U.S. decision offers Syrians “a path to prosperity.”
The measure “removes the last major obstacles to private-sector investment in Syria and promotes the country’s economic recovery as well as its reintegration into the global economy,” it noted in a statement.
“The decisions taken today will encourage further investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability,” commented U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, hailed the move as “a new decisive step in Syria’s remarkable journey from isolation to cooperation, and from a source of terrorism to a partner committed to the global fight against it.”
For his part, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Saybani described the U.S. decision as a “historic step,” noting that it reflects “the commitment of the new Syrian state to peace and international security.”
Syrian Finance Minister Mohammad Barniyeh spoke of a “great and historic success for Syrian diplomacy,” in comments broadcast by the official SANA news agency. At the same time, he noted that the U.S. decision opens “an important and long-awaited path to strengthening Syria’s integration into the global economic and financial system, attracting investment and modern technologies, and supporting development prospects.”
Also yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury removed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from the list of individuals and entities subject to U.S. sanctions.
Since 2025, many Western countries have gradually lifted the sanctions they had imposed on Syria, including Canada and the United Kingdom. The EU lifted them as early as May 2025.
Currently, only three countries remain on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, North Korea, and Iran.
Source: CNA
