Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Monday congratulated the Syrian people following the official removal of Syria from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
In a post on X, Al-Sharaa thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for what he described as a historic decision, as well as “all the brothers and friends who stood by Syria and the Syrian people.”
The United States formally removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, ending a designation that had been in place for 47 years. Damascus welcomed the move.
The U.S. State Department also revoked the designation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. HTS emerged from the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, before announcing its separation from the group in 2016.
The U.S. Treasury Department separately announced Monday that HTS had been removed from its sanctions list covering individuals and entities.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move, which comes nearly two years after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, would help encourage further investment in Syria and strengthen its political and economic stability.
Bessent said the Treasury Department remained committed to Trump’s pledge to give the Syrian people “an opportunity to achieve great things.”
The department nevertheless stressed that lifting restrictions on Syria does not change its position on combating global terrorism or its commitment to holding accountable actors it considers harmful in Syria.
Syria, for its part, welcomed the U.S. decision to end its decades-long designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
