Syria welcomed the US moving to lift sanctions on Syria after the US Department of Treasury put out a statement on Friday, an announcement that Syria’s foreign ministry called it a “positive step” and said that it was important to use diplomacy to build a “balanced relationship,” according to regional Arabic media reports.
This comes after US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s new president in Riyadh in early May. It also comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of working with Syria. Trump’s administration has tapped Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, to be a new envoy for Syrian issues.
"The Syrian Arab Republic welcomes the decision issued by the US government to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria and its people for many years,” Syria said on May 24. According to Al-Ain media in the UAE, the statement added that Syria considers the decision "a positive step in the right direction to alleviate the humanitarian and economic suffering in the country."
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Friday that it had “issued Syria General License (GL) 25 to provide immediate sanctions relief for Syria in line with the President’s announcement for the cessation of all sanctions on Syria.”
This will authorize transactions that had otherwise been prohibited. “GL 25 will enable new investment and private sector activity consistent with the President’s America First strategy. The US Department of State is concurrently issuing a waiver under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act) that will enable our foreign partners, allies, and the region to further unlock Syria’s potential. This is just one part of a broader US government effort to remove the full architecture of sanctions imposed on Syria due to the abuses of the Bashar al-Assad regime,” the statement said.
“As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria.
Syria's job to work on becoming stable country
"Syria must also continue to work towards becoming a stable country that is at peace, and today’s actions will hopefully put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
OFAC's statement provides an opportunity for a fresh start for US-Syria ties. “The Assad regime’s brutality against its own people and support for terrorism in the region has come to an end, and a new chapter unfolds for the Syrian people. The United States government is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” the statement said.
The statement went on to note that “US sanctions relief has been extended to the new Syrian government with the understanding that the country will not offer a safe haven for terrorist organizations and will ensure the security of its religious and ethnic minorities. The US will continue monitoring Syria’s progress and developments on the ground.”
The goal of the sanctions relief is that Syria can now do transitions that will help its economy and financial sector. Sanctions are a complicated issue and the goal of the new announcement is to try to get a quick workaround in order to enable Syria and the US to move forward on this issue.
There will be more to discuss because the US Congress and other entities have a role. There are also voices within the administration who may be trying to slow down this move. This is why the US is trying to publicly move faster, to prevent the naysayers from stopping Trump’s plans.