President Donald Trump revoked sanctions on Syria Monday in an executive order, a month after he met with Syria’s interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s order lifts sanctions on Syria, although sanctions on former dictator “Bashar al-Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS or its affiliates, and Iranian proxies” are still in effect, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
The White House notes in its fact sheet that the move is to support Syria’s “path to stability and peace.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is tasked with evaluating “suspending sanctions, either in whole or in part if specific criteria are met, under the Caesar Act, a law that sanctions the Assad regime for atrocities,” according to the document.
Moreover, he will review the designation of al-Sharaa’s insurgent group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as well as the designations of the group and al-Sharaa as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Al-Sharaa, a former lieutenant of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and HTS toppled Assad in December, and he has desperately sought to have the sanctions imposed on the previous regime removed, as Breitbart News’s John Hayward noted.
The order also instructs Rubio to review Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
During Trump’s historic Middle East trip last month, Trump and al-Sharaa met in Saudi Arabia at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s invitation. The private meeting lasted roughly 30 minutes, and Trump spoke afterward about “‘normalizing’ relations with Damascus, while Syria would explore joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel,” Hayward noted.
This marked the first in-person meeting between a leader of the U.S. and Syria in nearly three decades.
While flying to Qatar from Saudi Arabia after the first leg of the Middle East trip, Trump spoke highly of his meeting with al-Sharaa.
“Young, attractive guy, tough guy, strong past, very strong past – fighter. But he’s got a real shot at pulling it together,” Trump said.
The order comes as Breitbart News noted Monday that Israel is seeking a peace deal, which would include Syria and Lebanon.
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