The administration said it's lifting the sanctions without conditions, but hopes the move to end Syria's isolation in global financial markets will encourage the government headed by the U.S.-designated terrorist Ahmed al-Sharaa to fulfill a number of criteria related to countering terrorism, integrating the Syrian Kurdish forces, respect for minorities and establishing ties with Israel.
"Neither the president nor the secretary of State are nation building, they're not dictating," Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said.
"They're not requiring, they're not giving the framework of the democratic model that needs to be implemented to their architectural desire. They're saying we're going to give you an opportunity."
Trump announced during a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13 that he was lifting sanctions on Syria and blasted "interventionists" and "neocons" as wrecking "far more nations than they built."
Trump's executive order will begin to unravel decades of layered sanctions against Syria. The country was designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1979, although the State Department did not immediately return a request for comment if that designation would be lifted. A fact sheet provided by the White House said that the Secretary of State will review Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
The secretary will also review the sanctions designation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — the group that overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad late last year.
Sanctions will remain on Assad and officials sanctioned for human rights abuses, corruption, terrorism and other violations.
"While we remain hopeful for the country's future and its new government, we are also clear eyed that threats to peace remain," Brad Smith, acting undersecretary of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of the Treasury, said in a briefing with reporters previewing the president's executive order.
"The United States will remain ever vigilant where our interests and security are threatened, and Treasury will not hesitate to use our authorities to protect U.S. and international financial systems."
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
