The US Treasury Department announced on Monday that it is officially cancelling sanctions regulations on Syria. The regulations will be eliminated and will no longer be part of American law, with the decision taking effect today upon publication in the Federal Register. The move follows a new presidential order published at the end of June 2025, which determined the cancellation of Syria sanctions.
Under the presidential order, President Donald Trump established that the circumstances that led to declaring a national emergency in 2004 against Bashar Assad's regime have fundamentally changed.
This follows "developments that occurred during the six months preceding June 2025, including positive actions by Syria's new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani)." Based on this, the emergency status declared in Order 13338 was cancelled, and the regulations built upon it were deleted.
Comprehensive and precedent-setting step
This represents a comprehensive and precedent-setting step. While in the past some sanctions were removed or updated through supplementary orders, the regulations themselves have remained in effect since 2005. Now, for the first time in more than two decades, the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury (OFAC) is deleting the regulations entirely from the federal code.
However, the official announcement emphasizes that "removing the regulations does not provide relief to terrorist organizations, human rights violators, entities connected to chemical weapons or nuclear proliferation, or anyone threatening the peace, security or stability of the United States, Syria and its neighbors."
Those same entities have already been redefined under other orders, primarily Order 13894 ("Blocking Property and Prohibiting Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria"), which continues to ensure targeted sanctions against senior officials of the former regime and those who served it.
Treasury oversight officials further clarified that all procedures that were pending as of July 1, 2025, as well as all rights or obligations accumulated until that date, will remain in effect despite the regulation cancellation.
The removal of Syria sanctions occurs in parallel to advanced American-mediated talks between Syria and Israel for achieving a new security agreement between the countries. Yesterday, Ahmed al-Sharaa noted in a briefing call with Arab journalists that "discussions are underway regarding a security agreement between Damascus and Tel Aviv," and this discussion is "at an advanced stage." However, the Syrian president made clear that the possibility of a comprehensive peace agreement at this stage is not on the agenda.
