Middle East — 2026-08-25

US Treasury Officially Removes Syria From State Sponsors of Terrorism List After Decades-Long Designation

BLUFPairing Syria's delisting with expanded Iran SDN designations reframes Damascus as a sanctions-pressure proxy against Tehran, shifting regional leverage faster than reconstruction capital can follow.

The Treasury Department removed Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on Monday, effective after a 45-day congressional review period that began when President Trump notified Congress on July 8 of his intent to rescind it 12. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the action recognized "positive actions taken and further commitments" by the Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa to distance Syria from international terrorism 23. Treasury's OFAC also revoked the Specially Designated Global Terrorist designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, and removed it from the SDN List 12. Syria had held the terrorism-sponsor designation since 1979; Cuba, Iran and North Korea remain the only countries on the list 23. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told Reuters the move removed the "last obstacle" to investment in Syria, and al-Sharaa called the decision "historic" in a statement on X 23.

Analysis
The delisting clears the last formal barrier to Western banking access, correspondent relationships, and defense-related exports for al-Sharaa's government, letting international banks and card networks already positioning in Damascus proceed without terrorism-designation compliance risk, though execution now depends on individual institutions rather than further US policy action. Pairing the Syria and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham removals with a same-day expansion of Iran-linked SDN designations signals Washington is reallocating sanctions pressure toward Tehran while treating Damascus as a security partner; the move may function as much to pull Syria from Russian and Iranian influence as to reward al-Sharaa outright. Independent corroboration from NBC News, Al Jazeera, and JFeed atop the Treasury/OFAC notice reflects broad convergence rather than a single wire pickup.

4 sources

Removal of Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and Associated Sanctions List Updates - U.S. Department of the Treasury (OFAC)
U.S. removes Syria from terrorism sponsor list, lifting major investment obstacle - NBC News
US removes Syria from 'state sponsor of terrorism' list - Al Jazeera
U.S. Removes Syria from State Sponsors of Terrorism List - JFeed