The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Friday that it has dropped virtually all sanctions against Syria.
The department’s issuing of a general license for transactions previously prohibited under the Syrian Sanctions Regulations and a waiver of the sanctions imposed under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act amounts to “effectively lifting sanctions on Syria,” per the department.
“As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria,” Scott Bessent, the U.S. treasury secretary, stated.
“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,” he said.
Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, stated that he issued a 180-day waiver of sanctions to ensure that they “do not impede the ability of our partners to make stability-driving investments, and advance Syria’s recovery and reconstruction efforts.”
“These waivers will facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria,” Rubio stated.
“President Trump is providing the Syrian government with the chance to promote peace and stability, both within Syria and in Syria’s relations with its neighbors,” the U.S. secretary of state said. “The president has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities.”
The sanctions relief notably does not allow “transactions that benefit Russia, Iran or North Korea” or “terrorist organizations, perpetrators of human rights abuses and war crimes, drug traffickers or the former Assad regime.”
Treasury’s decision to lift sanctions marks another stunning turnaround for Ahmed al-Sharaa and his government of former rebels, who overthrew the Assad regime in less than two weeks at the end of 2024 after 14 years of stalemated civil war.
Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, joined Al-Qaeda in 2003 and was imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq from 2006 to 2011. In 2012, he joined the Syrian opposition as the head of a succession of groups that eventually renounced their ties to Al-Qaeda, but that the United States continues to designate as terrorists.
He was named Syria’s president in January and met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia earlier in May.
“Young. Attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Fighter,” Trump said of al-Sharaa on board Air Force One on the return from the trip. “He’s got a real shot at pulling it together.”
