Trump Moves to Revoke Syria's Designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism
· Time
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he would remove Syria from the U.S.’s list of state sponsors of terrorism for the first time in nearly five decades.
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“I think I will, yeah,” Trump said when asked if he would rescind Syria’s designation while sitting alongside Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Ankara, Turkey. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job … I think we should. Yeah, I will.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed later Wednesday that Trump had informed Congress of his Administration’s intent to take Syria off the list. Congress now has a 45-day window in which it could attempt to block Trump’s request before it takes effect.
“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Rubio said in a statement. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world.”
He noted that the decision followed “positive changes and counterterrorism actions” taken under al-Sharaa, who Rubio said has made “formal assurances” that his country “will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.”
The move could help enable Syria’s reintegration into the global economy, opening the door for greater international investment, trade, and stability in the country as it recovers from a nearly 14-year civil war.
In a bipartisan letter urging the Administration to remove Syria from the list last week, a trio of lawmakers noted that U.S. financial institutions have made clear that the country’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism is “a key remaining roadblock to Syria’s financial connectivity, which is needed to facilitate private sector investment and billions of dollars pledged for economic recovery.”
“Syria’s SST designation represents the most significant remaining legal impediment to Syria’s reconstruction,” read the letter, from Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. “Its removal could create new opportunity for foreign investment, economic development and capacity building to ensure the Syrians can remain capable and willing partners to the United States.”
Syria was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979 under the rule of Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, who continued leading the country until he died in 2000 and was succeeded in the presidency by his son. The U.S. increased sanctions against Syria in 2004 and again in 2011 following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, contributing to the Syrian population becoming all but entirely cut off from the world economy.
Al-Sharaa himself was previously designated on terrorist lists by the U.S. and the United Nations along with the Islamist militant group he led during the civil war, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group originated as an affiliate of al-Qaeda under a different name, before breaking ties and establishing itself as the dominant rebel group in northwest Syria, where it fought against Assad’s forces, ISIS, and rival factions.
Despite his role in toppling Assad’s brutal and widely hated regime, Shaara’s ascension and tenure as Syria’s leader has been controversial due to his past. In addition to its prior ties to al-Qaeda, HTS has been accused by the UN and other organizations of human rights abuses against women and children, as well as torturing and executing detainees.
Trump previously signed an Executive Order lifting most of the U.S. sanctions against Syria last June, similarly citing “positive actions taken by the new Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa.” The order, which Rubio referenced in his Wednesday statement, additionally directed the Secretary of State to review the country’s designation as a state sponsor of terror and other sanctions.
Months later, in November, the United Nations Security Council adopted a U.S.-backed resolution to lift sanctions against al-Sharaa. The State Department removed al-Sharaa from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list the same month, days before his visit to the White House—the first official visit a Syrian president had made to Washington since the country gained independence in 1946.
Congress then in December approved repealing the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which was enacted during Trump’s first Administration and imposed sweeping sanctions against Syria under the previous government led by President Bashar al-Assad.
“In the past year and a half, we have achieved a great accomplishment in unifying the country and setting it on the right path,” al-Sharaa said while speaking beside Trump on Wednesday. "This is thanks to the strong Syrian people and to the historic decision made by Trump to lift the sanctions on Syria. "It is also thanks to the help of all our friends in the region.”