Diplomatic relations between Syria and the United States began in 1835, suspended in 2012 after the onset of the Syrian civil war, and reopened in September 2025. Priority issues between the two states include the Arab–Israeli conflict, the Golan Heights annexation, alleged state-sponsorship of terrorism, etc. As of , the United States had begun to work with the new Syrian government after the collapse of the former regime under the Assad family and relations have improved.

The US government added Ba'athist Syria, which seized power in 1963, to its first list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism" in 1979, over its funding of Palestinian and other insurgent factions in the region. Syria is the only country from the original 1979 list to remain continuously on the list to the present day, in large part due to its support of Hezbollah. From the period of the "war on terror", the U.S. government has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Syria. These include legislatively mandated penalties, including export sanctions and ineligibility to receive most forms of U.S. aid or to purchase U.S. military equipment.

After the government crackdown on 2011 Syrian revolution, the US (alongside the European Union and Arab League) withdrew diplomatic recognition of Bashar al-Assad and imposed further sanctions against his government. According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, through a poll conducted during the Syrian civil war, 29% of Syrians approve of U.S. leadership, with 40% disapproving and 31% uncertain.

From the early stages of the conflict in Syria in 2011, the US and its allies have provided political, military and logistic support to the Syrian opposition and demanded the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power as a pre-requisite to any political solution in the country. Since 2012, United States has recognized the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC) as "the legitimate representative" of the Syrian government. In May 2014, SNRC's diplomatic offices were accredited by the US as its official foreign mission to Syria.

During his visit to the Middle East in 2025, Trump announced lifting all sanctions on Syria and began the process of normalizing relations between the two countries. Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the United States on September 22, 2025, to address the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, marking the first time in 60 years that a Syrian leader visits the US. He also visited the White House in November of the same year, becoming the first Syrian leader to do so.

History

1835–1943 The official relations began in 1835 when the United States first appointed U.S. consuls to Aleppo which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire. After Syrian independence was declared in 1941 the United States established a consulate in Damascus. On September 7, 1943, the United States recognized an independent Syria, appointing George Wadsworth to the diplomatic mission.

1957–1990

As a result of a failed 1957 CIA coup attempt to topple Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli, Syria asked US ambassador James S. Moose to leave Damascus. In return Syrian ambassador was recalled to Syria. Following the 1961 Syrian coup, there was a brief period of warm relations between the United States and the Syrian Arab Republic.

In 1967, U.S.–Syrian relations were severed again after the Six-Day War which resulted in Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights. Following the achievement of the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, relations resumed in June 1974, and, afterwards, U.S. president Richard Nixon visited Damascus on an official trip to meet President Hafez al-Assad. On May 9, 1977, President al-Assad met U.S. president Jimmy Carter in Geneva to discuss the Arab–Israeli conflict.

Syria was added to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism on the list's inception in 1979. In a 1986 interview on CNN, former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig, when asked which country he regarded as the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism, answered "unquestionably Syria." Also in 1986, the U.S. withdrew its ambassador and imposed additional administrative sanctions on Syria in response to evidence of direct Syrian involvement in an attempt to blow up an Israeli airplane. A U.S. ambassador returned to Damascus in 1987, partially in response to positive Syrian actions against terrorism such as expelling the Abu Nidal Organization from Syria and helping free an American hostage earlier that year.

1990–2000 During the Gulf War in 1990–91, Syria cooperated with the United States as a member of the multinational coalition of forces. The U.S. and Syria also consulted closely on the Taif Accord, ending the Lebanese Civil War.

In 1991, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad made a historic decision to accept then-President Bush's invitation to attend a Middle East peace conference and to engage in subsequent bilateral negotiations with Israel. Syria improved its relations with the United States by securing the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon and lifting the travel restrictions on Syrian Jews.

Throughout the Clinton administration there were multiple attempts to engage al-Assad in Middle East peace negotiations. These include several presidential summits including a visit by President Bill Clinton to Syria in 1994; the last one occurred when then-President Bill Clinton met President Hafez al-Assad in Geneva in March 2000.

2001–2008 In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the Syrian government began limited cooperation with U.S. in the war on terror. In one such case, Syrian intelligence alerted the U.S. of an al-Qaeda plan similar to the USS Cole bombing, which was to fly a hang glider loaded with explosives into the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.Erlich, Reese. Conversations with Terrorists. Sausalito CA: PoliPointPress, 2010..CIA rendition: more than a quarter of countries 'offered covert support': Report finds at least 54 countries co-operated with global kidnap, detention and torture operation mounted after 9/11 attacks"; The Guardian, February 5, 2013.

Syria's opposition to the Iraq War deteriorated relations. Serious contention arose because the Syrian government failed to prevent foreign fighters from using Syrian borders to enter Iraq and refused to deport the elements from the former Saddam Hussein government that supported the Iraqi insurgency. In turn, Syrian officials had concerns due to the high influx of Iraqi refugees into their country. In May 2003, the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, visited Damascus to demand Syrian closure of the offices of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Issues of U.S. concern include its ongoing interference in Lebanese affairs, its protection of the leadership of Palestinian rejectionist groups in Damascus, its human rights record, and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Relations diminished after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. In February 2005, in the wake of the Hariri assassination, the U.S. recalled its ambassador to Washington.

Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act The 2003 Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act imposed sanctions on Syria, banning the majority of exports to Syria except food and medicine, specifically prohibiting the export of most goods containing more than 10% U.S.-manufactured component parts to Syria.

Economic sanctions A series of executive orders targeting Syria's government were enacted by President George W. Bush which included Executive Orders 13315, 13224, 13382, 13338, 13399, 13441, and 13460. These sanctions are imposed on certain Syrian citizens or entities due to their participation in terrorism, acts of public corruption, or their destabilizing activities in Iraq and Lebanon. In May 2004, a new comprehensive set of economic sanctions were enacted under the Bush administration by Executive Order 13338.

2006 US Embassy bombing attempt in Damascus On September 12, 2006, the U.S. Embassy was attacked by four armed assailants with guns, grenades and a car bomb (which failed to detonate). Syrian Security Forces successfully countered the attack, killing three attackers and injuring one. Two other Syrians killed during the attack were a government security guard and a passerby. The Syrian government publicly stated that terrorists had carried out the attack. The U.S. government did not receive an official Syrian government assessment of the motives or organization behind the attack, but security was upgraded at U.S. facilities. The Syrian ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustapha, blamed the attack on Jund al-Sham; meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad, however, blamed U.S. foreign policy in the region as contributing to the incident.

Al-Qaeda, Iraq, and foreign fighters The U.S. has also blamed Syria for the movement of foreign al-Qaeda affiliates into Iraq. The movement of these foreign fighters peaked between 2005 and 2007; however, Syria attempted to decrease such movement through increased monitoring of borders, and improved screening practices of those crossing the border. After 2009, the Syrian government indicated willingness to increase border security cooperation between Iraqi and US forces.

In 2008, the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) carried out a paramilitary raid targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in the town of Sukkariyeh in Abu Kamal. Subsequent reports revealed that nearly a dozen similar operations had taken place in Syria, Pakistan, and elsewhere since a 2004 classified executive order, the Al Qaeda Network Exord, permitted such missions, stipulating that those in sensitive countries such as Syria and Pakistan required presidential approval.Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, "Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda"; New York Times, November 9, 2008.Ewen MacAskill, "US forces staged more than a dozen foreign raids against al-Qaida: Former CIA official lifts lid on secret anti-terror operations"; The Guardian, November 10, 2008.

Support for democratic opposition Diplomatic cables between the US embassy in Damascus and the State Department that were released by WikiLeaks in 2011 revealed that, starting during the presidency of George W. Bush, the US gave financial support to political opposition groups and related projects, at least through September 2010. The cables were sent because embassy staff became worried as Syrian intelligence agents were investigating these programs. The financing included $6 million to the Barada TV satellite channel which broadcast anti-government programming into Syria. Barada was closely affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network of Syrian exiles.

Contemporary era (since 2009) Obama administration (2009–2017) The Obama administration initiated a policy of rapprochement with Syria. However, with the governments' violent response to the Syrian civil war in 2011, relations cooled dramatically and senior American officials, including President Obama himself, repeatedly called for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to resign.