About Unblock Syria

During the Assad era, the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions imposed comprehensive sanctions on Syria. In response, many technology companies blocked access from Syria entirely — often through IP-based geo-restrictions or by removing Syria from their list of supported countries.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the U.S., the EU, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia have all lifted or substantially eased their Syria sanctions. However, many companies have not yet updated their compliance policies to reflect the current regulatory reality. In some cases, companies are unaware of the changes. In others, internal compliance reviews are proceeding slowly, or companies have defaulted to maintaining restrictions out of caution rather than legal necessity. Some blocks also persist inside third-party infrastructure — country restrictions built into platforms a company relies on, left switched on by default even though the legal basis for them is gone.

UnblockSyria is a community-driven platform that tracks which digital services remain blocked in Syria following the lifting of international sanctions. We document the status of hundreds of services, compile official regulatory resources from the U.S. and EU, and provide a channel for the Syrian community to report blocked services and prioritize which ones matter most. Companies that have restored access can reach out to us directly to update their status — we highlight every company that takes this step. Our goal is to close the gap between the current regulatory reality and corporate action, ensuring that the lifting of sanctions translates into actual access for the people of Syria.

Yes. The United States no longer maintains a comprehensive Syria Sanctions program. The sanctions were removed in stages: on June 30, 2025, Executive Order 14312 terminated the Syria Sanctions Program, effective July 1, 2025. On August 26, 2025, OFAC formally removed the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 542) from the Code of Federal Regulations. On December 18, 2025, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act was repealed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. The U.S. State Department now explicitly states: "The United States no longer maintains a comprehensive Syria Sanctions program." One separate designation, Syria's listing as a state sponsor of terrorism, ran on its own legal track and was rescinded on August 24, 2026; see the dedicated question in this FAQ. Full documentation is available on our Resources page.

This is one of the most common misconceptions. While many software products are indeed classified as EAR99 under the Export Administration Regulations, EAR99 items no longer require an individual license for export or reexport to Syria. On September 2, 2025, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) introduced License Exception SPP (Syria Peace and Prosperity), codified at 15 CFR § 740.5. This exception authorizes the export or reexport of all EAR99 items to Syria, provided the transaction does not involve a restricted end-user or end-use under Part 744 of the EAR. In practical terms: standard commercial software, cloud services, and SaaS platforms classified as EAR99 can be provided to users in Syria without any additional licensing. Companies citing EAR99 as a reason to continue blocking Syria are relying on an outdated reading of the regulations.

For items classified as EAR99 — which includes the vast majority of commercial software and cloud services — the only applicable restrictions are standard end-use and end-user controls under Part 744 of the EAR. These controls apply globally, not specifically to Syria, and prohibit transactions involving designated parties or certain end-uses of concern such as weapons proliferation. Standard due diligence is all that is required.

The country-level designation that used to sit here, Syria's listing as a state sponsor of terrorism, was rescinded on August 24, 2026. Items classified above EAR99 on the Commerce Control List can still face additional requirements, because Syria stays in Country Group E:1 until the Bureau of Industry and Security issues a rule removing it. Beyond that, the U.S. now runs a narrow, conduct-based program — the Promoting Accountability for Assad and Regional Stabilization Sanctions (PAARSS) — targeting specific individuals tied to the former regime, not the Syrian market. None of this affects EAR99 items, which are fully authorized under License Exception SPP.

No. The Department of State rescinded the designation on August 24, 2026, two days after the mandatory 45-day congressional review closed without a joint resolution of disapproval. It had stood since December 1979, the longest-running such designation of any country. The same statement also removed Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham's designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, which matters mainly to banks and payment companies, since the current Syrian government grew out of that group. The rescission is in effect. The Federal Register notice recording it has not published yet, which is documentation catching up rather than a decision still outstanding.

The most important thing to understand is what this does not do. The designation never required any company to block Syrian users, so its removal does not switch anything back on by itself. Access returns service by service, over months, as individual compliance teams get around to reviewing their own country lists. Some companies will move quickly, some slowly, and some only when asked directly.

Several restrictions also sit outside the designation and outlive it. Syria stays in Country Group E:1 until the Bureau of Industry and Security issues a rule removing it, which for now keeps the de minimis threshold for foreign-made goods containing U.S.-controlled content at 10 percent rather than 25. Syria remains listed under ITAR § 126.1 until the State Department amends it. Targeted PAARSS sanctions on individuals tied to the former regime are unaffected, and so are EU and UK measures, which some companies cite as their reason for blocking. Syria also remains on the FATF grey list, which does more than any U.S. designation to constrain banking and payments.

None of this affects EAR99 items. Standard commercial software and cloud services have been fully authorized under License Exception SPP since September 2025, and were already authorized well before this designation was lifted. For the full legal picture, read our detailed analysis.

Yes. On May 28, 2025, the EU Council formally adopted legal acts lifting all economic sanctions on Syria, including Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1098 and related implementing decisions. The Council removed restrictive measures across key economic sectors and delisted major institutions, including the Central Bank of Syria and companies in oil, telecommunications, and other sectors critical to economic recovery. Normalization has continued since: on May 11, 2026, the Council restored full application of the EU–Syria Cooperation Agreement, ending the partial suspension in place since 2011 and removing the last quantitative trade restrictions. The only remaining EU measures are targeted asset freezes and travel bans on specific individuals and entities linked to the former Assad regime; at its scheduled review in May 2026, the Council renewed them for one year while delisting seven further entities, including Syria's Ministries of Defence and Interior. These individual designations do not restrict companies from providing services to users in Syria.

Yes. The rollback extends well beyond the U.S. and EU. The United Kingdom lifted its sanctions on Syria's energy, finance, aviation, and transport sectors in April 2025, published official guidance for businesses operating in Syria, and removed its remaining trade prohibitions in April 2026. Switzerland lifted its economic sanctions in June 2025, and Australia eased its sanctions on Syria's financial and energy sectors in November 2025. Canada repealed its broad import, export, investment, and financial services sanctions in February 2026, delisting 24 entities including the Central Bank of Syria. Official documents for each jurisdiction are available on our Resources page.

For most software and cloud service providers, the process is straightforward. First, review the current regulatory status — confirm that both U.S. and EU sanctions on Syria have been fully lifted. Our Resources page compiles official government documents for this purpose. Second, assess your product classification — if your product is classified as EAR99 (which covers most commercial software), License Exception SPP authorizes its provision to Syria with no additional licensing required. Third, conduct standard screening — apply the same end-use and end-user due diligence you would for any other market. No Syria-specific screening is required beyond standard compliance procedures. Finally, update your geo-restrictions — remove Syria from any blocked-country lists in your access controls, and check the third-party platforms your product is built on, which may still exclude Syria through their own default settings. Platforms that have completed this review and restored access include the Fedora Project, whose council reviewed its export-control policy before the infrastructure team removed the IP blocks; Kaggle, which dropped Syria from its sanctioned-regions list; Firebase; and AMBOSS, which reopened the region after its own compliance review. Large companies often move product by product rather than all at once, so audit your own catalogue the same way: several Google services are reachable from Syria while others are not, and GitHub restored browsing and cloning while account-level restrictions remain.

Ask which specific regulation they believe requires one. In many cases, companies are operating on outdated information from before the sanctions were lifted. The relevant question is whether they have assessed License Exception SPP (15 CFR § 740.5), which authorizes EAR99 exports to Syria without an individual license, or whether the requirement is being triggered by a specific end-user or end-use restriction under Part 744. If the company says it is still reviewing, ask for a timeline and share the official guidance written for compliance teams — in particular the Tri-Seal Advisory issued jointly by the U.S. Treasury, State, and Commerce Departments on November 10, 2025 and updated that December, and OFAC's Syria sanctions FAQs, both available on our Resources page.

It means the decision to block Syria is a business choice, not a legal requirement. No current U.S. or EU regulation requires companies to block Syria. The legal frameworks that previously mandated these restrictions have been repealed and removed. Companies are free to set their own policies about where they operate, but when a company frames a voluntary business decision as a compliance matter — or implies that legal barriers exist when they do not — it is important to recognize the distinction. Companies that have reviewed the updated regulations and restored access include the Fedora Project, Kaggle, Firebase and AMBOSS. A company that chooses to remain blocked is exercising a business preference, not fulfilling a legal obligation.

Yes. The argument that Syria lacks working payment rails is no longer accurate. In May 2026, Syria processed its first live Visa and Mastercard transactions in over 15 years and launched Paymera, a local payments network connected to global card rails, with 50,000 point-of-sale terminals planned by the end of 2026. QNB Group became the first bank to enable acceptance of international Visa and Mastercard cards in Syria following authorization by the Central Bank, and Visa has signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Communications and agreed a strategic roadmap with the Central Bank of Syria to build out the digital payments ecosystem. Companies that previously cited payment infrastructure as a barrier to serving Syria can revisit that assessment — see our Press page for the announcements.

Report services that are still blocked on this platform so we can track them and prioritize outreach. Vote for the services you need most so that companies and advocates can focus where the impact is greatest. Share our Resources page with compliance and legal teams at companies that still block Syria — it contains the official government documents they need to verify the current regulatory status. If you work at a company that blocks Syria, raise the issue with your legal or compliance team and point them to the current regulatory guidance.