US removes sanctions on Syrian president ahead of meeting with Trump

2025-11-08 06:33:47

The United States on Friday removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a day after the United Nations Security Council did the same ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump next week.

According to a notice on the US Treasury Department website, the United States removed Specially Designated Global Terrorist designations on Sharaa and Syria’s interior minister, Anas Khattab.

The UN Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution on Thursday to lift sanctions on al-Sharaa.

The formal lifting of sanctions on al-Sharaa is largely symbolic as they were waived every time he needed to travel outside of Syria in his role as the country’s leader. An assets freeze and arms embargo will also be lifted.

Formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, al-Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.

Syria’s president will discuss issues including lifting remaining sanctions, reconstruction and counter-terrorism when he visits Washington, Damascus said.