United
States currently designates five state sponsors of terrorism: Iran,
Syria, Sudan, North Korea, and Cuba. We will maintain sanctions against
them and promote their international isolation until they end their
support for terrorists, including the provision of sanctuary. To
further isolate these regimes and persuade other states not to sponsor
terror, we will use a range of tools and efforts to delegitimate
terrorism as an instrument of statecraft. Any act of international
terrorism, whether committed by a state or individual, is
reprehensible, a threat to international peace and security, and should
be unequivocally and uniformly rejected. Similarly, states that harbor
and assist terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists, and they will be
held to account.

Iran remains the most active state sponsor of international terrorism.
Through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of
Intelligence and Security, the regime in Tehran plans terrorist
operations and supports groups such as Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, and
Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Iran also remains unwilling to account
for and bring to justice senior al-Qaida members it detained in 2003.
Most troubling is the potential WMD-terrorism nexus that emanates from
Tehran. Syria also is a significant state sponsor of terrorism and thus
a priority for concern. The regime in Damascus supports and provides
haven to Hizballah, Hamas, and PIJ. We will continue to stand with the
people of Iran and Syria against the regimes that oppress them at home
and sponsor terror abroad.

While Iranian and Syrian terrorist activities are especially worrisome,
we are pressing all state sponsors to take the steps that are required
to have state sponsorship designation rescinded. Each case is unique,
and our approach to each will be tailored accordingly. Moreover, we
never foreclose future membership in the coalition against tyranny and
terror. The designation of Iraq as a state sponsor was rescinded in
2004 as it transitioned to democracy, ceased its terrorist support, and
became an ally in the War on Terror. Similarly, the United States in
June 2006 rescinded the designation of Libya, which has renounced
terrorism and since September 11 has provided excellent cooperation to
the United States and other members of the international community in
response to the new global threats we face. Libya can serve as a model
for states who wish to rejoin the community of nations by r