U.S. Removes Syria from State Sponsors of Terrorism List

The U.S. Department of the Treasury confirmed that the U.S. Department of State today removed Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Reuters, citing the Treasury Department’s website, reported that Washington also removed the designation of “al-Nusra Front,” known as “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” as a terrorist organization. In a related development, U.S. President Donald Trump reposted a message from Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, which featured a photo with Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara, in which he thanked the United States for its decision to remove Syria from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The Monitor website quoted a U.S. official as saying that the Congressional review period for the decision to delist Syria from the state sponsors of terrorism list had ended, noting that U.S. lawmakers had not attempted to block the removal of the designation.