Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle a web of sanctions against Syria, a move that will likely unlock investments in the country more than six months after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.
Trump’s decree on Monday offers sanctions relief to “entities critical to Syria’s development, the operation of its government, and the rebuilding of the country’s social fabric”, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement.
The Syrian government has been under heavy US financial penalties that predate the outbreak of the civil war in the country in 2011.
In a statement posted on X, Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani welcomed Trump’s decision, saying it “will open the door of long-awaited reconstruction and development”.
“It will lift the obstacle against economic recovery and open the country to the international community.”
The sprawling sanction programme, which included provisions related to the former government’s human rights abuses, has derailed reconstruction efforts in the country. It also contributed to driving the Syrian economy under al-Assad to the verge of collapse.
Trump promised sanctions relief for Syria during his visit to the Middle East in May.
“The United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbours,” the US president said in a statement on Monday.
“A united Syria that does not offer a safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensures the security of its religious and ethnic minorities will support regional security and prosperity.”
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the sanctions relief was “wide-ranging”.
“This is a significant step towards the rebuilding of Syria,” he said.
The Trump administration said Syria-related sanctions against al-Assad and his associates, ISIL (ISIS), and Iran and its allies would remain in place.
While the US Treasury said it already removed 518 Syrian individuals and entities from its list of sanctions, some Syria penalties may not be revoked immediately.
For example, Trump directs US agencies to determine whether the conditions are met to remove sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act, which enabled heavy penalties against the Syrian economy for alleged war crimes against civilians.
Democratic US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had partnered with Republican lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna to introduce earlier this week a bill that would legislatively lift sanctions on Syria to offer long-term relief.
Real relief for the Syrian people requires repealing certain laws.
My bill with @RepLuna permanently repeals the sanctions and gives the post-Assad Syria a fighting chance. https://t.co/gExbLiKS7z
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 30, 2025
As part of Trump’s order, the US president ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review the designation of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”.
Moreover, the US president ordered a review of the status of al-Sharaa’s group, al-Nusra Front – now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – as a designated “foreign terrorist” organisation. Al-Nusra was al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, but al-Sharaa severed ties with the group in 2016.
Al-Nusra later became known as Jabhat Fath al-Sham before merging with the rebel group HTS.
Al-Sharaa was the de-facto leader of a rebel enclave in Idlib in northwest Syria for years before leading the offensive that overthrew al-Assad in December 2024.
Trump met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and praised the Syrian president as “attractive” and “tough”.
The interim Syrian president, who is also referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has promised inclusive governance to allay concerns about his past ties to al-Qaeda.
But violence and kidnappings against members of al-Assad’s Alawite sect by former rebel fighters over the past months have raised concerns among some rights advocates.
Al-Sharaa has also pledged that Syria would not pose a threat to its neighbours, including Israel, which has been advancing in Syrian territory beyond the occupied Golan Heights and regularly bombing the country.
