US lifts arms-export ban on Syria, moving sales to case-by-case licensing
The US State Department has amended its arms-export rules to remove Syria from the policy-of-denial list, effective Thursday, in the latest step towards normalising ties with the al-Sharaa government.
The Trump administration is removing Syria from the US list of countries barred from buying or importing American weaponry, ending a long-standing blanket ban on arms exports to Damascus.
The State Department said in a notice published on Wednesday in the Federal Register that it was amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, so that Syria is no longer among the nations subject to a US policy of denial for licences and approvals needed for the sale of weapons and munitions. The change takes effect on Thursday, meaning requests from Syria will now be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The rule implements a new defence trade policy for Syria approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 19 August, which directed the department to codify the change through the ITAR amendment. It is the latest step in a monthslong process of easing restrictions on the new government in Damascus: President Trump acted last year to ease economic sanctions that had stood for decades under ousted President Bashar Assad, and in August Rubio rescinded Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. The State Department has also announced plans to reopen the US embassy in Damascus, closed for 14 years.
With Syria’s removal, only seven countries remain subject to the policy of denial for US arms exports: Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Venezuela.
Syria’s interim president, former rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, overthrew the Assad government nearly two years ago after a civil war that devastated the country, and has pursued a policy of improved relations with Washington in a bid to ease sanctions.
Sources
- https://www.kxl.com/us-removes-syria-from-arms-export-ban-as-trump-administration-draws-closer-to-new-syrian-government/ (AP, by Matthew Lee)
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/30/syria-removed-from-us-arms-export-ban-list (Al Jazeera)
- https://www.dailysabah.com/business/defense/us-lifts-blanket-ban-on-arms-exports-to-syria (Daily Sabah)
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