Washington, D.C. (Agencies): July 8, 2025 — In a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Syria, President Donald Trump’s administration has officially rescinded the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation for Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), according to a State Department memo released Monday.
The decision, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and dated June 23, was published ahead of its formal appearance in the Federal Register. It follows Trump’s recent executive order terminating a longstanding U.S. sanctions program on Syria, signaling an effort to reintegrate the war-torn country into the international community.
“In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation,” Rubio wrote in the memo, citing HTS and its various aliases.
HTS, formerly linked to Al-Qaeda under the name Al-Nusrah Front, has undergone a rebranding and strategic shift in recent years. Now led by Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa—who rose to power following a December offensive that removed Bashar al-Assad—HTS claims to be independent of terrorist affiliations and supports democratic reform.
The group’s removal from the terrorist list is expected to ease financial restrictions and facilitate reconstruction efforts in Syria. The move builds on Trump’s pledge during his May meeting with Sharaa in Riyadh to lift U.S. sanctions and support Syria’s recovery after more than a decade of civil war.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has yet to issue a formal response to the U.S. decision.
International reaction remains cautious, with analysts divided over whether the reclassification marks a true break from HTS’s militant past or a geopolitical recalibration by Washington in light of new regional dynamics.