US drops terrorist tag on group led by Syrian interim president, as Trump courts post-Assad Syria

In a major pivot for post-war Syria, the United States will revoke its designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) this week, marking a sharp turn in Washington’s stance towards the country’s fragmented opposition forces.

The move, which takes effect Tuesday, is part of United States President Donald Trump’s wider strategy to re-engage with Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December — and to support reconstruction efforts in a nation devastated by more than a decade of conflict.

“This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,” said US secretary of state Marco Rubio in a statement on Monday.

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HTS, which emerged out of the notorious al-Nusra Front — once al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria — had been blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist group since 2018 because of its historic ties to the network. In 2016, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa declared a formal split from al-Qaeda in an effort to reposition the group as a nationalist force.

Al-Sharaa went on to lead the coalition of opposition fighters that toppled al-Assad in a stunning lightning offensive last December. He now heads Syria’s new transitional government as president, seeking to rebuild a fractured state while navigating the uneasy legacy of the conflict’s jihadist factions.

The Trump administration’s decision is being cast as a confidence-building gesture to encourage deeper cooperation with Damascus and to unlock international aid.

“In line with president Trump’s May 13 promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, I am announcing my intent to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of al-Nusra Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” Rubio said.

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He added that the move follows the announced dissolution of HTS’s military command structure and “the Syrian government’s commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms.”

According to Al Jazeera, Damascus has welcomed the decision as a step toward normalisation with the West. In a statement, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the delisting of HTS as a “positive step toward correcting a course that previously hindered constructive engagement.”

It said it hoped the decision 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.”

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Despite the US policy shift, HTS remains under United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed in 2014 over its previous ties to al-Qaeda. Al-Sharaa himself is still listed under separate UNSC measures — any removal would require a full Council vote.

According to Syrian officials, al-Sharaa is expected to make his first major diplomatic appearance as Syria’s president at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September — a symbolic step that could test whether the international community is ready to accept the new status quo in Damascus.

As the Trump administration and the European Union continue to ease broader sanctions on Syria, all eyes will now be on how fast the war-ravaged country can attract reconstruction funding and rebuild institutions — and whether former militant factions can truly reinvent themselves as legitimate political actors in a nation still struggling to heal its deep scars.