The Trump administration says Syria’s new government has done enough in opposing ISIS, Iran and Hezbollah to justify ending the country’s 47-year terrorism designation, as Washington tries to persuade Damascus to normalize relations with Israel and shake off Moscow’s influence.
Washington removed Syria from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list on Monday, cutting one of the last U.S. curbs on President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government, which came to power after overthrowing Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Less than 48 hours later, Sharaa spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about strengthening relations and the future of Russia’s military bases in Syria. Israeli forces then again launched strikes inside Syria, despite ongoing U.S.-mediated talks aimed at reaching a security agreement.
The juxtaposition captures Washington’s gamble. It is seeking to reward Syria’s new government before the country’s realignment is complete, then use engagement and targeted pressure to pull Damascus the rest of the way into America’s regional plans.
That strategy increasingly rests on trusting Sharaa – a former al-Qaeda commander whom President Donald Trump has praised as a “young, attractive guy” who is “respected by everybody” – to follow through on his promises.
A spokesperson for the State Department told MBN that Sharaa’s government was removed from the U.S. terrorism blacklist this week after offering “written assurances” it would not support international terrorism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the terrorism delisting recognized not only the “positive actions” made so far by Syria, but also its “further commitments.”
Asked what Washington still expects Damascus to deliver, the State Department spokesperson declined to identify any specific commitments made by Syria.
“President Trump has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities,” the spokesperson told MBN, adding that Washington “maintains numerous options, including sanctions authorities” if Damascus reverses course.
Sharaa’s government has already taken concrete counterterrorism steps, the spokesperson noted, including dissolving the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in 2025 and joining the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. The U.S. also credited Sharaa with ending Syria’s Assad-era cooperation with Iran and Hezbollah, a group that the United States and European Union have designated as a terrorist organization.
The shift is striking given Syria’s history and that of its new president.
Syria was one of the original countries placed on the U.S. terrorism list in 1979, when Hafez al-Assad’s government hosted Palestinian militant groups opposed to Israel. His son, Bashar, kept Damascus aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, and grew increasingly dependent on Moscow during the 2011-2024 civil war.
Sharaa himself led al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate before breaking with the group in 2016. The United States still designated him a terrorist until November, nearly a year after he became president. Three days after the designation was lifted, he met Trump at the White House in the first such visit by a Syrian president.
The United States quickly rewarded his pivot.
Trump began lifting the U.S. sanctions on Syria in May 2025 and formally ended the main countrywide sanctions program two months later. Export controls were then eased in September, and Congress repealed the Caesar Act in December.
But even after those changes, Syria’s overall terrorism designation discouraged American banks, energy companies and other businesses from entering the Syrian market. Its removal this week cleared one of the last major legal and compliance obstacles to investment by U.S.-based businesses.
Congressional supporters of normalization with Syria argued that the continued isolation was beginning to work against American interests in the Middle East.
In a bipartisan letter in July, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, and Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican, wrote that the State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST) designation on Syria’s government deterred Western business there while Russia, Iran and China remained able to compete for influence.
They urged the White House instead to keep pressing Damascus to reduce Russia’s military presence, remove foreign fighters from leadership positions, and follow the West in formally designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Their letter also pressed Syria to peacefully integrate majority-Kurdish regions in the country’s northeast, a process the government has since started.
“Removal of the SST designation does not mean deprioritizing these steps,” they wrote, arguing that the listing “undermines U.S. national security interests.”
Russia is the main influence Washington hopes to curb.
Moscow spent years using military force to keep Assad in power. After his regime collapsed, the ousted president fled directly to Moscow, where he remains.
Sharaa has since reduced Russia’s privileged position without cutting ties completely. A deal this month gave Syria more control over the civilian portions of Russian-operated Hmeimim air base and Tartus port while nevertheless preserving the Russian military presence through joint training facilities.
There are signs the U.S. strategy is already shifting the balance in Syria, though: during the negotiations that led to the removal of the SST designation this week, Damascus reportedly agreed to sharply reduce imports of Russian oil.
Israel, meanwhile, is the harder part of Washington’s plans.
Trump urged Sharaa at their first meeting in May 2025 to move toward the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel, and U.S. officials have since tried to turn Syria’s break with Iran into better relations with Israel.
But that effort has yet to pay dividends. Major Israeli strikes and incursions into Syria have continued, including an attack near the Turkish border last week that raised tensions with Ankara, one of Sharaa’s closest regional partners.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met Israeli officials in Jordan for more U.S.-led talks on Sunday. But Damascus says any security deal with Israel must end the attacks and return territory Israel’s military seized after Assad’s fall.
For Washington, such a deal would be the clearest sign yet that its gamble on Sharaa is paying off: drawing Syria further from the Russia-Iran axis of the Assad era and into the regional order the United States is trying to build.
