Washington/This Wednesday, the United States began the process to remove Syria from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism on which Washington imposes sanctions and limitations on foreign aid, the same day as the meeting in Ankara between US President Donald Trump and his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed Al Sharaa.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated in a statement that Trump informed the US Congress of his Administration’s “intention to revoke the designation of Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, after a 45-day prior notification period.”
Trump had already advanced this possibility during the bilateral meeting with Al Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, where the American president praised the Syrian, whom he described as a strong and respected ruler who transformed a country that was “a real disaster.”
The American president praised the Syrian, whom he described as a strong and respected ruler who transformed a country that was “a real disaster.”
“The lifting of sanctions on Syria will allow international trade and investment to be reactivated, will give Syria the opportunity to rebuild and will open a new chapter for the Syrian people. A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and with its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world,” Rubio insisted.
The start of this process followed a sanctions relief on Damascus ordered by Trump in June 2025, the Al Sharaa government’s “positive changes and counterterrorism actions” and its “formal assurances” that Syria “will not support acts of international terrorism,” the statement added.
“Today marks a significant milestone in the renewed bilateral relationship between the United States and Syria, as well as in the history of Syria as a nation. We commend the Syrian government for charting a new course and look forward to strengthening our partnership with Syria and its people,” concluded Rubio, who traveled with the presidential entourage to Ankara.
Syria was blacklisted as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, but US lawmakers and politicians have called for its removal based on improvements following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024.
In July 2025, the Trump Administration removed the Islamist coalition HTS, the insurgent group with origins in Al Qaeda that was led by Al Sharaa, from its list of terrorist groups, and in December, Congress repealed the 2019 Caesar Act, which imposed harsh economic sanctions on Syria in response to Al Assad’s war crimes.
With the upcoming departure from Syria, only Iran, included in 1984, would remain on the blacklist; North Korea, added in 2017, and Cuba, removed in 2015 by the then president, Barack Obama, and restored by Trump in 2021. President Joe Biden (2021-2025) removed Cuba again just before ending his term, but Trump included it again as soon as he took office, in January 2025.
