Washington Lifts Last Remaining Arms and Military Financing Restrictions on Syria

Washington announced the lifting of the last remaining arms and military financing restrictions imposed on Syria as part of U.S. steps to ease constraints on the country following political changes.

The U.S. Department of State announced that Syria has been exempted from the final two restrictions imposed under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, a move that removes the legal ban on U.S. arms sales to Syria and foreign military financing, without implying that the decision entails an arms deal or the provision of new military funding to Damascus.

The decision took effect on September 16, 2026, and was published in the Federal Register under Document Number FR Doc. 2026-18918. The exemption covers restrictions related to the sale of defense articles and services, design and construction services, as well as export licenses for items listed on the U.S. Munitions List.

The decision also ends restrictions on foreign military financing allocated to Syria under the Arms Export Control Act, thereby lifting the last two remaining restrictions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.

This measure is part of a series of U.S. steps to ease restrictions on Syria following political changes, running parallel to other actions that included lifting the Caesar Act sanctions and removing Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Several civilian export controls previously imposed on the country had already been eased.

Despite the lifting of the legal restriction on arms sales and military financing under the aforementioned law, the decision does not mean that the United States has eliminated all regulatory restrictions on exports of defense equipment to Syria, as other procedures and export controls remain in place under U.S. systems governing defense trade.

In a related development, U.S. Representative Joe Wilson expressed disappointment on September 19 over the continuation of certain U.S. export restrictions on Syria, calling for further steps to enable American companies to invest and conduct business in the Syrian market. This comes amid the persistence of separate civilian export controls distinct from the recent decision regarding restrictions imposed under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.