Trump dismantles Syria sanctions programme as Israel ties eyed
Washington, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Monday formally dismantled United States (US) sanctions against Syria, hoping to reintegrate the war-battered country into the global economy as Israel eyes ties with its new leadership.
Trump lifted most sanctions against Syria in May, responding to appeals from Saudi Arabia and Turkey after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa ended a half-century of rule by the Assad family.
In an executive order, Trump terminated the “national emergency” in place since 2004 that imposed far-reaching sanctions on Syria, affecting most state-run institutions including the central bank.
“These actions reflect the president’s vision of fostering a new relationship between the United States and a Syria that is stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Rubio said he would start the potentially lengthy process of examining whether to delist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation dating from 1979 that has severely discouraged investment.
He also said he would look at removing the terrorist classification of Sharaa and his movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was once linked to Al-Qaeda. The United States already removed a bounty on Sharaa’s head after he came to power.
Brad Smith, the Treasury Department official in charge of sanctions, said the new actions “will end the country’s isolation from the international financial system”.
Syria recently carried out its first electronic transfer through the international banking system since around the time it descended into a brutal civil war in 2011.
The orders still maintain sanctions on elements of the former government, including Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia late last year.
Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani hailed the US move as a “major turning point”.
“With the lifting of this major obstacle to economic recovery, the long-awaited doors are opening for reconstruction and development” as are the conditions “for the dignified return of displaced Syrians to their homeland”, he wrote on X.
