The United States officially removed Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a formerly al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group active in Syria, from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations on Monday.

The announcement came alongside Washington's partial lifting of sanctions on Syria, signaling a significant shift in U.S. policy toward the newly established government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

HTS, previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra and once considered the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, formally severed ties with the terror network in 2016 and rebranded itself as a domestic rebel group.

In December last year, under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, HTS launched a swift military offensive that ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power and seized control of Damascus.

Now Syria's president, al-Sharaa has pledged to establish an inclusive, democratic government. His administration has welcomed U.S. moves toward normalization, calling them constructive and forward-looking.

In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the delisting of HTS“a key step in advancing President Trump's vision for a united, stable, and peaceful Syria.” The move followed a meeting last month between al-Sharaa and Trump in Riyadh, where Trump announced a rollback of U.S. sanctions.

Despite these changes, HTS and its leadership remain under United Nations Security Council sanctions. The removal of those restrictions would require a formal UN resolution-something not yet under discussion. Nonetheless, Syria's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that President al-Sharaa plans to attend the UN General Assembly in September, signaling a new phase of international engagement.

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