The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday, May 14, that it has initiated the process to lift the sanctions previously imposed by Washington on Damascus.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated via his account on “X” on May 14 that the Treasury Department is moving to provide sanctions relief to stabilize and move Syria towards peace.
For his part, US President Donald Trump said today that he was not aware that Syria had been under sanctions for this long a period.
A senior US official told Reuters that the White House has not issued any memos or directives to sanctions officials in the state or treasury departments in preparation for lifting the sanctions and did not inform them about the nearing announcement by President Trump regarding Syria.
The official added that “at the time when Trump met with the Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, officials in the state and treasury departments were still uncertain about how to proceed.”
Reuters reported that “after the announcement, US officials were confused about how the administration would loosen the levels of sanctions, which ones would be alleviated, and when the White House sought to begin the process.”
The agency discussed specific challenges regarding lifting the sanctions, given the multiple levels of measures isolating Syria from the international banking system and preventing many international imports.
It mentioned that the sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act complicate the task, as its repeal requires a procedure from Congress but includes a clause allowing the president to suspend sanctions for national security reasons, and Trump can issue a general license to suspend some or all sanctions.
On May 13, President Donald Trump announced his decision to lift the US sanctions imposed on Syria, stating during a speech at the Saudi-US Investment Forum, “It is time to give Syria a chance, and I wish it good luck.”
Trump added, “Syria has experienced long years of misery and suffering, and today there is a new government that we hope will succeed in stabilizing and ending the crises,” indicating that this initiative represents the first step toward normalizing relations between Washington and Damascus.
The US sanctions have played a role in undermining the capacity of the former Syrian regime, targeting the head of the regime Bashar al-Assad and members of his family, down to government officials and economic and military figures supporting him. The sanctions affected service and economic sectors, negatively impacting the lives of Syrians.
History of sanctions on Syria
US sanctions on Syria began in January 1979 when the United States designated Syria as a “state sponsor of terrorism” due to its support for certain Palestinian factions and its intervention in Lebanon.
The sanctions targeted the military sector in 1979, including arms exports and defense sales to Syria, alongside restrictions on exporting military-use materials.
In May 2004, additional sanctions were added when former US President George W. Bush issued Executive Order No. 13338, implementing the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act” passed in 2003, aimed at ending the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and punishing the Assad regime for facilitating the passage of fighters and weapons from Syria to Iraq during the US war on Iraq.
The sanctions imposed by the US administration on Syria at that time included a ban on all US exports to Syria, except for food and medicine, in addition to preventing Syrian airlines from taking off, landing, or flying over US territory.
In 2005, US sanctions expanded under the US Anti-Terrorism Act or what is known as “The Patriot Act,” to include the Syrian banking sector, prohibiting all types of financial transactions between US banks and the Syrian Commercial Bank.
Following the accession of former US President Barack Obama to power in 2009, his administration lifted diplomatic sanctions in 2010 and appointed diplomat Robert Ford as the first US ambassador to Damascus since 2005. However, it renewed the other sanctions imposed on Syria under the “Syria Accountability” and “Patriot” acts.
On April 29, 2011, former President Barack Obama issued Executive Order No. 13572 in response to the Assad regime’s crackdown on the Syrian revolution, and US sanctions on Syria escalated, peaking with the approval of the US Congress for the Caesar Act.
The United States imposed restrictions on the oil sector and banned the sale of equipment needed for extracting or refining oil.
The US also prohibited the export of goods and services from companies or individuals from the US to Syria, and froze the financial assets of several figures associated with the ousted Assad regime, as well as the financial assets of the Syrian state itself.
In June 2020, Washington enacted the sanctions law known as the “Caesar Act,” which determined financial sanctions on Syrian officials, businessmen, and any foreigner dealing with Damascus, and stipulated the freezing of reconstruction aid.
The US prohibited allowing any financial or technological support to the regime in Syria under a series of sanctions enacted over the years, which was also emphasized in the final version of the US Federal Register published on June 6, 2024 (Volume 89, Number 110).
The Federal Register itself discusses that Washington imposed sanctions including a ban on transferring law enforcement equipment, surveillance technology, or sensitive technology used by the Syrian intelligence, attributing its sanctions to the Caesar Act.
US Treasury begins procedures to lift sanctions on Syria Enab Baladi.
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