Latest news with #sanctionsRelief
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
US Moves to Ease Sanctions on Syria After Trump Met New Leader
The US has taken a major step toward easing severe sanctions on Syria imposed during the Assad dictatorship, which was overthrown by rebels last December after a nearly 14-year civil war. The 'immediate sanctions relief' was announced by the Treasury Department on Friday, more than a week after President Donald Trump met the nation's new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia.
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Syria granted sanctions waiver by Trump administration to encourage rebuilding
The Trump administration on Friday announced sanctions relief for Syria as part of a series of steps to end decades of penalties and to stabilize the country. The Treasury Department said it will grant Syria a 180-day waiver, known as GL 25, to ease financial restrictions that target the country's former rulers in an effort to give its new leaders a chance to rebuild a nation still scarred by more than a decade of civil war. It will facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. "As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "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." The waiver will allow Syria to engage in Syrian reconstruction and other economic activity. The sanctions relief has been extended on the condition that Syrian leaders will not offer a safe haven for terrorist organizations and will ensure the security of its religious and ethnic minorities, the Treasury Department said. "Today's actions represent the first step in delivering on the President's vision of a new relationship between Syria and the United States," Rubio said in a statement. "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 President has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities." The move came after Tom Barrack, US Ambassador to Turkey and former advisor to President Donald Trump, announced on Friday that he would be filling the role of U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, while highlighting recent sanctions relief. "The cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity of our primary objective — the enduring defeat of ISIS — and will give the people of Syria a chance for a better future," he wrote Friday on X. "In this way, we, together with regional partners including Turkiye and the Gulf, are enabling the Syrian government to restore peace, security, and the hope of prosperity. In the words of the President, we will work together, and we will succeed together." Syria's former autocratic leader, Bashar al-Assad, ruled the country for decades after succeeding his father. Assad's government, long sustained by Russia and Iran, presided over 13 years of civil war, and collapsed last year during a major offensive by rebel fighters. Assad and his family left Syria for Moscow to seek asylum. The waiver announced on Friday prohibits the new Syrian government from engaging in transactions that benefit Russia, Iran, North Korea or key supporters of the former Assad regime.
Al Jazeera
23-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
US lifts first sanctions on Syria following Trump's surprise announcement
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has taken its first concrete action to deliver sanctions relief for Syria, following a surprise policy pivot earlier this month. On Friday, the US Department of the Treasury announced sweeping relief to an array of individuals and entities, which it said will 'enable new investment and private sector activity consistent with [Trump's] America First strategy'. The US State Department, meanwhile, concurrently issued a waiver to a 2019 law, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, that would 'enable our foreign partners, allies, and the region to further unlock Syria's potential'. Trump surprised the international community when, on May 13, he pledged to remove sanctions placed on Syria during the leadership of its now-ousted leader, President Bashar al-Assad. Friday's announcements mark an initial step towards that goal, as Syria recovers from abuses under al-Assad's government and 13 years of civil war. 'As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. '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'.Trump first unveiled his plans for sanctions relief during a tour of the Middle East in mid-May. He said lifting US sanctions would give Syria 'a chance at greatness', since the restrictions left the war-torn country economically isolated. 'It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off,' he said from Riyadh. Shortly after, Trump met and shook hands with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had only recently been removed from the US's 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' list. Calls for sanctions relief had grown following the fall of al-Assad's government last December. As head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, al-Sharaa spearheaded the offensive that led to al-Assad fleeing the country, bringing the civil war to an end. The war, which first broke out in 2011, had left Syria's economy in tatters. As many as 656,493 people were killed during the conflict, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and a 2020 report from the United Nations estimated that the country suffered total economic losses of about $442.2bn in the first eight years of the war alone. Sanctions have further dampened Syria's economic outlook, making it difficult for countries with ties to the US to conduct business there. Since taking power in December, Syria's interim government has argued the ongoing sanctions, largely imposed during al-Assad's rule, would slow development and cause further instability. Trump's announcement earlier this month buoyed hope for many Syrians of a new path forward, although the extent of the relief had remained unclear. Earlier this week, the European Union also announced it had lifted sanctions against Syria. Friday's sanctions relief in the US applies to the 'the Government of Syria … as in existence on or after May 13, 2025', according to the Treasury Department. The reprieve also applies to several previously sanctioned transportation, banking, tourism and fossil fuel entities. Transactions related to Russia, Iran and North Korea remain under US sanctions. One of the biggest hurdles, however, is the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, a law that was passed in 2019, during Trump's first term. It included broad sanctions that targeted al-Assad's government and its allies and supporters for atrocities committed against civilians. The act was named after a former Syrian military photographer and whistleblower who smuggled out of the country a cache of images showing torture and mass killing at detention centres run by al-Assad's security forces. But since the law was passed by Congress, it will likely take an act of Congress to completely lift its restrictions. The president, however, can issue temporary waivers to the law, which is what the Trump administration did on Friday. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the waiver will last for 180 days, in order to 'increase investments and cash flows that will facilitate basic services and reconstruction in Syria'. 'We support the Syrian people's efforts to build a more hopeful future,' Rubio said.
CNN
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
‘It's going to fail': Iranians speak to CNN ahead of US-Iran talks
Iran has said it will attend a fifth round of nuclear talks with the United States in Rome on Friday. The talks are aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran ahead of the talks, and spoke to locals about what they hope they will achieve.
CNN
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
‘It's going to fail': Iranians speak to CNN ahead of US-Iran talks
Iran has said it will attend a fifth round of nuclear talks with the United States in Rome on Friday. The talks are aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran ahead of the talks, and spoke to locals about what they hope they will achieve.
