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President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating American sanctions on Syria, aiming to boost the Arab nation's battered economy and support the new government after rebels overthrew the regime of Bashar Al-Assad last year.
The order removes various sanctions on Syria effective July 1 while keeping those on Assad, "his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS or its affiliates, and Iranian proxies," according to the White House.
Assad fled to Russia after he was toppled by a group headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who now leads Syria.
Trump's move is part of an effort to "promote and support the country's path to stability and peace," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. "He's committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors."
The order also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani welcomed Trump's decision, saying it would help open his country to the international community. "By lifting this big stumbling block to the economic recovery, doors are open for the long-awaited reconstruction and development, and rehabilitation of vital infrastructure," he said in a social media post.
Trump met Al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May after announcing he would lift US sanctions. It was the first meeting between the two countries' leaders in 25 years.
A week later, the US issued a 180-day waiver to sanctions imposed by Congress, removing penalties for people doing business with the Syrian government, with the longer-term goal of eliminating the restrictions entirely.
Al-Sharaa, who used to be an Al-Qaeda militant and fought US troops in Iraq, is presenting his administration as a fresh start for Syria after more than a decade of civil war. Al-Sharaa says he's reformed and that his government wants better relations with the West, something that's key to reviving the economy.
Trump's executive order will "give a blanket opportunity around all the things that we need to turn back on this economy," said Tom Barrack, who was appointed US special envoy to Syria after Trump announced the lifting of sanctions.
Syria's civil war, which began in 2011, killed between 300,000 to 500,000 people, according to the United Nations and Syrian organizations. The country was reclassified as a low-income nation by the World Bank in 2018, with its gross domestic product more than halving between 2010 and 2020. Production of exported goods such as oil, olive oil and pistachio nuts largely collapsed. Syria instead became known for making and trafficking narcotics, especially the cheap, amphetamine-like Captagon.
While Trump can ease some sanctions that were issued by executive order, undoing all of them would require Congress to repeal the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which penalizes almost anyone who tries to do business with Syria.
Syria has been under US sanctions since its 1979 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Further sanctions were imposed in 2004 and in 2011, when civil war broke out and Assad unleashed a brutal crackdown on his opponents.
Trump is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 7 and Syria may be part of their talks. Israel initially warned the US and other powers against forging deeper ties with Al-Sharaa's government, saying it was a threat to Western interests. But on Monday Israel's foreign minister suggested a change of tack and said Israel and Syria could normalize relations.