United States President Donald Trump on June 30 signed an executive order ending the economic sanctions on Syria, in a move that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said was aimed at “promoting and supporting the country’s path to stability and peace”, according to an AP report.
This comes after Donald Trump promised Syria’s new interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who he met in Saudi Arabia in May, hat sanctions would be lifted and relations normalised. It comes as a policy shift between the US and Syria that has been in place since George W Bush.
Speaking to reporters, the US Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brad Smith, on June 30 said that the executive order is meant to “end Syria’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanizing investments from its neighbors in the region, as well as from the United States”.
Assad under scanner, sanctions on terrorist groups remain
Still, some restrictions remain in place. The US contnues to designate Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, and the group led by al-Sharaa as a foreign terrorist organisation. A State Department official told AP this is also under review.
Sanctions targeting terrorist groups and manufacturers and sellers of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon will also remain in place.
Further, the executive order does not roll back sanctions imposed on ousted former Syrian President Bashar Assad, his top aides, family members and officials, the report added.
It also leaves intact a major set of sanctions passed by Congress targeting anyone doing business with or offering support to Syria’s military, intelligence or other suspect institutions.
Notbly, while the Trump administration has passed temporary waivers on those sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, they can only be permanently repealed by law.
The White House posted the text of the order on X after the signing, which was not open to the press.
US-Syria relations on the mend?
The U.S. granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in May, which was a first step toward fulfilling the Republican president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.
Along with the lifting of economic sanctions, Monday’s executive order lifts the national emergency outlined in an executive order issued by former President George W. Bush in response to Syria’s occupation of Lebanon and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, Treasury officials said. Five other previous executive orders related to Syria were also lifted.
The European Union has also followed through with lifting nearly all remaining sanctions on Syria.