US removes Syria from state sponsor of terrorism list

The Treasury said its removal of restrictions on Syria ‘does not change Treasury’s posture with regards to countering global terrorism’

The United States on Monday delisted Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, rescinding a decades-old designation that had severely impeded investment.

The US State Department also revoked its designation of al-Nusrah Front – also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – as a global terrorist organisation, leaving Cuba, Iran and ‌North Korea as the three countries designated by Washington as state sponsors of terrorism.

But the agency stressed that its removal of restrictions on Syria “does not change Treasury’s posture with regards to countering global terrorism and our commitment to hold bad actors in Syria accountable”.

“These actions were all taken in recognition of the positive actions taken and further commitments by the Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa to fully distance ‌Syria from acts of international terrorism,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.