Trump's Team Proposes 6-Month Waiver as a First Step in Easing Sanctions on Syria, Officials Say
President Donald Trump's advisers are proposing that he grant Syria a six-month waiver from one crippling set of sanctions as well as ease restrictions on businesses as a first step in his pledge to end a half-century of penalties, two US officials said Friday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the announcements on the first phase of US sanctions relief could come as soon as Friday or on Tuesday, after Memorial Day.
In addition to a temporary waiver on a tough set of sanctions imposed by Congress, officials also support broadening Treasury Department rules setting out what foreign businesses can do in Syria, the officials said. They said there could still be changes to what is announced in the initial round of relief.
Trump on May 13 announced a "cessation" of US sanctions targeting Syria's former leaders that date back to 1979. For more permanent relief, administration officials are debating whether Syria's interim government should be required to meet tough security conditions.
At risk could be the future of a transitional government run by those who drove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from power late last year and hopes that it can stabilize the country after a 13-year civil war that has left millions dead or displaced, the economy in ruins and thousands of foreign fighters still on Syrian soil.
US presidents have piled up penalties over the years on the autocratic family that previously controlled Syria, and those could be quickly lifted or waived through executive action. But Congress imposed some of the strictest measures and would have to permanently remove them.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former militant commander who led the overthrow, says he is working to build an inclusive government friendly to the West. Some Trump administration officials are pushing to lift or waive sanctions as fast as possible without demanding tough conditions first.
Others in the administration have proposed a phased approach, giving short-term waivers right away on some sanctions and then tying extensions or a wider executive order to Syria meeting conditions, which could substantially slow or even permanently prevent longer-term relief. That would impede the interim government's ability to attract investment and rebuild Syria after the war, critics say.
"The Syria sanctions are a complex web of statutes, executive actions and United Nations Security Council resolutions that have to be unwound thoughtfully and cautiously," White House National Security Council spokesman Max Bluestein said.
The administration is "analyzing the optimal way to do so," Bluestein said in a statement Thursday.
A State Department proposal circulated among officials following Trump's pledge on his Middle East trip last week lays out sweeping requirements for future phases of relief or permanent lifting of sanctions, including dismantling Palestinian armed groups as a top demand, according to one of the US officials familiar with the plan.
Additional proposals are circulating, including one shared this week that broadly emphasized taking all the action possible, as fast as possible, to help Syria rebuild, the official said. Besides sanctions waivers, discussions include easing restrictions on banking and business and lifting longstanding US terrorist designations.
A welcome US announcement in Syria
People danced in the streets of Damascus after Trump announced in Saudi Arabia last week that he would be ordering a "cessation" of sanctions against Syria.
"We're taking them all off," Trump said a day before meeting the country's new leader. "Good luck, Syria. Show us something special."
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio advocated for a hedged approach in testimony before US lawmakers.
Rubio pushed for sanctions relief to start quickly, saying Syria's five-month-old transition government could be weeks from "collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions."
But asked what sanctions relief should look like overall, Rubio gave a one-word explanation: "Incremental."
Washington had levied sanctions against Syria's former ruling family since 1979 over its support for Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militant groups, its alleged chemical weapons program and its brutality against civilians.
The sanctions include penalties for outside companies or investors doing business there. Syria needs tens of billions of dollars in investment to restore its battered infrastructure and help the estimated 90% of the population living in poverty.
Sharaa's government could be the best chance for rebuilding the country and avoiding a power vacuum that could allow a resurgence of ISIS and other extremist groups.
"If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we do not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out," Rubio said.
Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force and an advocate who has been influential in helping shape past US policy on Syria, said he has been circulating a framework for a proposed executive order that envisions Trump quickly revoking many sanctions outright.
Moustafa asserted that some in the administration were trying to "water down" Trump's pledge, which he said was aimed at "preventing a failed state and ending perpetual violence."
The most difficult penalty to lift could be the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a wide-reaching set of sanctions passed by Congress in 2019 in response to alleged war crimes by Assad's government.
It specifically blocks post-war reconstruction, and although it can be waived for 180 days by executive order, investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months.
In a meeting last week in Türkiye with Syria's foreign minister, Rubio and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said permanent relief would require action by the Syrian government to meet conditions that the president laid out, according to other US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
"We have a moment here to provide some capability to this new government that should be conditions-based," Graham said this week. "And I don't want that moment to pass."
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'That means there is a potential for these talks, and there is a potential for having better relationships on both sides, the Israeli side and the Syrian side, and that require both sides to start a long journey of negotiations between both of them, and to believe that a better relationship is possible between both of them.' Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the Global Arab Network, believes the real test for Al-Sharaa's government will be reconstruction. 'The key now is how the government handles the opportunities it's being given — politically, regionally, internationally, and with sanctions relief,' he told Arab News. 'Will reconstruction be piecemeal, with companies simply seizing contracts, or will it be comprehensive?' The London-based Syria analyst added: 'Ideally, reconstruction should create opportunities for businesses, rebuild infrastructure, improve quality of life, and promote stability — ultimately encouraging refugees to return. 'These are the things that will be judged moving forward.'
