E.O. 14312 removes sanctions on Syria, effective July 1, 2025, while maintaining sanctions on Bashar al-Assad and certain other destabilizing regional actors. Specifically, the E.O. revokes the following six E.O.s that form the foundation of the Syrian Sanctions Program and terminates the national emergency underlying those E.O.s, effective July 1, 2025:
- E.O. 13338 of May 11, 2004;
- E.O. 13399 of April 25, 2006;
- E.O. 13460 of February 13, 2008;
- E.O. 13572 of April 29, 2011;
- E.O. 13573 of May 18, 2011; and
- E.O. 13582 of August 17, 2011.
As a result, as of July 1, 2025, the economic sanctions administered by OFAC that constitute the Syria Sanctions Program are no longer in effect. Persons blocked solely pursuant to the above E.O.s were removed from OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List), and all property and interests in property of such persons are unblocked. On August 26, 2025, OFAC removed the Syrian Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. Pending or future OFAC investigations or enforcement actions related to apparent violations of the Syrian Sanctions Regulations that occurred prior to July 1, 2025, may still be carried out.
Additionally, E.O. 14312 preserves and expands OFAC's ability to target Bashar al-Assad and his associates, human rights abusers, captagon drug traffickers, and other destabilizing regional actors, by further amending E.O. 13894. Concurrently with the issuance of E.O. 14312, OFAC designated 139 persons who were previously designated under the Syrian Sanctions Regulations pursuant to E.O. 13894, as further amended, or other OFAC authorities.
Consistent with the guidance contained in E.O. 14312, the U.S. government took the following steps:
- On July 8, 2025, the State Department rescinded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's (HTS) designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and on August 24, 2026, HTS was removed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization from the SDN List. As a result, General License (GL) 25, which authorized certain transactions that could otherwise have been prohibited due to the role of HTS in the Syrian government, is no longer necessary, and OFAC has revoked the general license.
- On December 18, 2025, the President signed legislation repealing the Caesar Act, removing the threat of mandatory Caesar Act sanctions for foreign persons providing support to the Government of Syria and engaging in certain transactions involving Syrian industry, including the infrastructure and energy sectors.
- On August 24, 2026, the Secretary of State rescinded Syria's SST designation.
Date Updated: August 24, 2026