Trump to sign sweeping order rescinding Syria sanctions
The expected executive order comes after the Trump administration took steps to ease sanctions on Syria last month.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order that will rescind a raft of sanctions on Syria, two US officials told Al-Monitor, in line with his pledge to lift all sanctions as the country aims to recover from more than a decade of civil war.
Trump is expected to sign the action in the coming days, which one official described as “the full revocation of Syria’s sanctions architecture.” It comes after his administration announced its first wave of sanctions relief on May 23, which included a general license allowing Americans to engage in financial transactions with Syrian government entities such as the central bank, the state-owned petroleum company and Syria’s national airline.
The State Department also unveiled a six-month waiver for the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a bipartisan law intended to isolate the former regime of Bashar al-Assad and its backers.
The United States has labeled Syria a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979 and intensified sanctions on the country beginning in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on peaceful protests against its ironfisted rule. Sanctions were expanded in 2020 under the Caesar Act.
