The Trump administration on Monday revoked the terrorist designation for Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as part of a broader effort to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria and support the country’s post-war reconstruction.
In December, anti-regime groups, led by HTS, ousted Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria's president and said he wanted to build an inclusive and democratic Syria.
HTS was previously known as al-Nusra Front, with links to al-Qaeda, before it broke off ties in 2016.
In May, al-Sharaa met with Trump in Riyadh, where, in a major policy shift, the Republican president announced he would lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, prompting Washington to significantly ease its measures.
"This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that the revocation would come into effect Tuesday.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order terminating the U.S. sanctions program on Syria, a move that aims to end the country's isolation from the international financial system.
Syria's Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the lifting of sanctions on HTS was a "positive step toward correcting a course that previously hindered constructive engagement."
The written statement said Syria hoped the move would "contribute to the removal of remaining restrictions that continue to impact Syrian institutions and officials, and open the door to a rational, sovereign-based approach to international cooperation."
The ministry also said that al-Sharaa was planning to attend the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in September.
The U.N. Security Council still has sanctions on both HTS and al-Sharaa himself, which require a Council decision to remove.
