US revokes terrorist designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group

The US State Department revoked the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation of the al-Nusrah Front group, also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), according to an unpublished Federal Register notice on Monday.

"In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the notice dated June 23 and scheduled for publication Tuesday.

The revocation will take effect immediately upon publication.

HTS has been on the US Foreign Terrorist Organization list since 2018, when the group was added to the existing designation of its predecessor, the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.

Last Dec. 8, Bashar Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups captured Damascus in a swift offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

A new transitional administration in Syria led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to terminate the US sanctions on Syria.

In May, Trump announced at an investment forum in Riyadh that he would lift the “brutal and crippling” sanctions on Syria. A day later, he held a landmark meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia – the first meeting between the US and Syrian leaders in 25 years.