Overview

• The State Department memo signed June 23 by Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially revoked HTS’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation as published in a Federal Register preview on July 7.
• President Trump signed an executive order on June 30 terminating a major U.S. sanctions program on Syria to help end its isolation from global financial markets.
• Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham emerged from al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, severed those ties years ago and now publicly advocates for inclusive, democratic governance.
• Core sanctions under the Caesar Act and measures targeting Assad-era figures remain in force to hold regime officials accountable.
• Syria’s foreign ministry has not issued any comment on Washington’s policy reversal.