WASHINGTON — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa addressed his country early Tuesday in a video posted on X, declaring that Syria was casting off what he called a dark burden and opening a new chapter in its history. Al-Sharaa thanked President Donald Trump directly for what he called a historic decision and said sanctions had been lifted and restrictions removed from the Syrian people.
Washington formally revoked Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism on Monday, Aug. 24, ending a listing that had stood for 47 years. Syria was first placed on the list in 1979, during the rule of the Assad family, and the removal leaves only three countries with the designation: Cuba, North Korea and Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the decision recognized the Syrian government's positive actions to distance itself from international terrorism. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move would help foster investment in Syria to support both political and economic stability.
The listing had imposed broad financial sanctions on Syria, blocked U.S. foreign aid, banned American defense exports and sales, and exposed foreign companies and governments that traded with Damascus to secondary penalties. Rubio described Monday's action as clearing major barriers for private sector investment and Syria's reintegration into the global economy.
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani welcomed the decision as a historic step, saying his government would continue working to dismantle the effects of isolation and build an environment based on transparency, mutual interests and respect. Syria's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. move would support economic recovery and reconstruction.
Al-Sharaa's path to leading Syria is rooted in a decade of armed conflict. His Islamist faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was formerly known as al-Nusra Front and served as al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. Al-Sharaa severed HTS's ties with al-Qaeda in 2016. In late 2024, HTS led the rebel offensive that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad, and the group now dominates Syria's transitional administration.
The Trump administration's embrace of al-Sharaa is notable given that al-Sharaa previously carried an American bounty on his head because of his leadership of an al-Qaeda-linked organization. The U.S. removed HTS from its list of global terrorist organizations alongside Syria's delisting. Last year, Washington also revoked HTS's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and removed al-Sharaa himself from the U.S. list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
U.S. officials have said publicly that Washington wants Syria drawn into its sphere rather than that of Russia or China, both of which maintained ties with Assad's government throughout the civil war.
Significant risks remain. Syria has not established a representative government, and security across much of the country is fragile. The country sits at the center of growing tension between Israel and Turkey, two neighbors with competing interests in Syrian territory and governance. International investors considering entry will face a reconstruction environment with limited rule of law infrastructure and a financial system long cut off from Western institutions.
The delisting does not automatically restore normal banking relations or lift all individual sanctions. U.S. Treasury designations on specific individuals and entities linked to the Assad era remain in force unless separately revoked. Companies looking to operate in Syria will still face a patchwork of remaining restrictions, including those applied by the European Union and other governments that maintain their own Syria-related sanctions regimes independent of Washington's.
Al-Sharaa's government now faces the task of translating diplomatic recognition into tangible economic recovery. Syria's infrastructure was heavily damaged during more than a decade of civil war. International reconstruction funding, access to the dollar system, and the ability to attract foreign direct investment all depend in part on Syria's continued removal from U.S. blacklists and its compliance with conditions set by Washington and multilateral lenders.
