CNN
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The Trump administration will no longer consider Syria’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group led by Syria’s interim president, a foreign terrorist organization, according to a notice from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The revocation of the foreign terrorist designation for the group, which is also known as the al-Nusra Front, comes amid a growing rapprochement between Washington and Damascus.
The revocation was signed on June 23 and will take effect on Tuesday, according to the notice from Rubio. The draft was posted in the federal register on Monday.
In a separate statement Monday, Rubio said the revocation of the designation “follows the announced dissolution of HTS and the Syrian government’s commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms.”
“This action also builds on the momentum of the June 30 Executive Order ‘Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions’ and recognizes the positive actions taken by the new Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa,” he said. “This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria.”
The United States and Syria have not yet re-established diplomatic relations, although a number of administration officials have met with Syrian officials, including interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa is the leader of the HTS, which was was formed out of a former al Qaeda affiliate. HTS, with Al-Sharaa at its helm, led the shocking ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to formally end US sanctions on Syria, following an announcement earlier in June that he would lift sanctions in order to help the country rebuild after years of war.
As part of the executive order, the administration was reviewing Syria’s state sponsor of terrorism and foreign terrorist organization designations, a senior administration official said. The state sponsor of terrorism designation has been in place since 1979.
The executive order also directed the State Department to review the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designations on the HTS and al-Sharaa. It is unclear if the Trump administration is also lifting the SDGT designations. CNN has reached out to the State Department for additional information.
