The State Department periodically reviews its travel warnings to ensure that they are up-to-date. Our goal is always to help American citizens make informed decisions about their travels and to be aware of any potential safety and security issues abroad.

After carefully assessing the current situation in Syria, we determined that circumstances did not merit extending this Travel Warning.

The current series of travel warnings were enacted in September 2006 following an attack against the Embassy, and were not based upon Syria being designated as a State Sponsor of Terror. Being a State Sponsor of Terrorism is not a basis for a travel warning.

We have taken the decision to remove the current Travel Warning because the security situation no longer merits one. Review of the security situation is ongoing and we can disseminate a new Travel Warning as circumstances merit.

We detail our concerns about Syria in the Country Specific Information sheet on Syria, which is available at travel.state.gov. This document talks about Syria’s ties to terrorist organizations and provides other pertinent information on safety and security in Syria.

We encourage all Americans who are thinking of traveling abroad to read the Country Specific Information sheets for the countries they wish to visit.

This decision was based solely on our careful assessment of the security situation on the ground in Syria and has no relationship to political discussions.

Our assessment of the security situation is subject to ongoing review and can change at any time.