As the Trump administration moves to dismantle much of the decades-old U.S. sanctions regime imposed on Syria, one major obstacle remains: Damascus is still designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. The White House and lawmakers have signaled that could be about to change, in another move to attempt to pull Syria back into the global order.

Syria remains one of just four countries — alongside Cuba, North Korea, and Iran — designated as an SST. It is a status Damascus has held since 1979 and its current government, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has actively sought to shed. 

During the second Trump administration and following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, President Donald Trump and Congress have worked to rapidly unwind U.S. sanctions on Damascus in an effort to integrate the country into the global economy.

Congress repealed the Caesar Act last year, which had long imposed crippling secondary sanctions on Syrian individuals, companies and entities tied to the Assad regime. Under the direction of an executive order from Trump, the Treasury Department subsequently reviewed and waived a sweeping array of sanctions, though Washington still maintains targeted restrictions on Assad and his immediate associates.

As part of Trump’s executive order last year, the administration mandated a formal review of Syria’s SST designation. While the State Department has publicly maintained that there is no specific timeline for a conclusion, a U.S. official said the sanctions “will be off by end of summer,” Politico reported on Thursday. Trump “made [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio move it forward after Sharaa asked him,” the official said in messages to Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

The prospect of delisting has also garnered support from members of Congress. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) told Politico that “other sanctions like the State Sponsor of Terrorism designation remain obstacles in Syria’s path to economic recovery and stability.” 

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) said in a video alongside the Syrian American Council’s Mohammed Ghanem this week that he has “an agreement with Secretary of State Marco Rubio … to eliminate the State Sponsor [of Terrorism] sanctions.”

“I’m just so confident that it would be bipartisan … because the American people are united in the hopes and dreams and possibility of a sovereign, peaceful and prosperous Syria,” Wilson said. “We have faith in the people of Syria, we want the best for the people of Syria to have the freedoms that can be enjoyed in all of the Middle East.” 

Ahmad Sharawi, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider that Washington would like to see Syria removed from the list in an effort to “pull Damascus out of the Iranian-Russian orbit and move it toward a U.S.-aligned regional order.” 

“That shift is already underway, given that President Trump has rolled back most Syria sanctions,” Sharawi said. “For Damascus, removal from the list is essential to unlocking investment and reconstruction, especially as Gulf states signal a willingness to pour money into the country. Syrian officials have argued that the designation continues to limit the country’s recovery.”

However, Sharawi said that Syria should not be removed “unconditionally.” He argued that while Syria has taken important steps — such as joining the anti-ISIS coalition and “disrupting some Hezbollah weapons flows through Syria” — that Damascus still has work to do. 

“The right approach is conditional delisting,” Sharawi said. “There are still designated foreign jihadist factions that have been integrated into the Syrian army, and ISIS has reportedly infiltrated parts of Syria’s new security structures. The United States should use the designation to demand measurable progress that brings Syria closer into the regional order.”