Biden administration mulls dropping terror designation for Syrian HTS: Report

WASHINGTON

The Biden administration is considering the removal of the foreign terror designation for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian group that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime, according to a report published Tuesday.

The discussions aim to "create a pathway for the world to interact with the new government," one former US official told NBC News.

Two officials who spoke to the network said Washington is looking to lift the designation "soon," while another said the talks were still in the early stages.

The report came hours after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there were "no discussions right now about changing the policy with respect to HTS, but we are watching what they do."

The State Department said earlier that the group "is using the right words," but the US will judge it not by those words, but by their actions in the coming days, regarding a potential lifting of the designation.

HTS has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US, UK, UN and Türkiye. However, the group and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, have sought to rebrand themselves as a more moderate force in Syria, emphasizing inclusion and a political path forward.

Removing the group's terror designation would involve lifting the $10 million bounty on al-Jolani, said the report.