US offers Syrian government conditions for limited sanctions relief
If the conditions are met, the Trump administration would consider waivers for sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act as well as approve a two-year extension of General License 24.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has presented Syria’s interim government with a list of requirements to unlock some relief from sweeping US sanctions, Al-Monitor has learned.
The State Department’s top official for the country, Deputy Assistant Secretary Natasha Franceschi, gave the list of conditions to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani on the sidelines of an international donor conference in Brussels last week, according to multiple sources familiar with the meeting.
If the conditions are met, the Trump administration would consider waivers for sanctions imposed under the 2019 Caesar Act as well as approve a two-year extension of General License 24, which authorizes certain transactions with the new Syrian government and is set to expire in July.
The conditions include the Syrian government appointing a liaison to assist with the search for information on Austin Tice, an American journalist imprisoned by the former regime more than a decade ago.
