Trump ends US sanctions on Syria, signs executive order

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order lifting US sanctions on Syria, ending the country’s isolation from the global financial system.

The decision follows Trump’s earlier announcement in May that he wanted to ease sanctions to help Syria rebuild after its long civil war.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s move is aimed at creating a “path to prosperity and peace” for Syria.

“It’s an action the president promised,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump wants Syria to be “stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” according to the AP. “This is another promise made and promise kept,” she said.

Key sanctions remain in place

However, the order keeps in place sanctions against Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his close associates, as well as human rights violators, drug traffickers, people involved in chemical weapons, ISIS members, and Iranian-backed groups, Reuters reported.

Shift in US policy towards Syria

In May, during a meeting in Saudi Arabia, Trump told Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa that he would lift sanctions and consider restoring diplomatic ties, signaling a major shift in US policy toward Syria.

The new order also officially ends the “national emergency” declared in 2004, which had imposed sweeping sanctions on key Syrian institutions, including its central bank.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani welcomed the move, saying it would “open the door to long-awaited reconstruction and development.”

Despite lifting sanctions, the US still considers Syria a state sponsor of terrorism, a label unlikely to be removed soon and one that continues to discourage foreign investment.

Signs of financial reintegration

In a sign of change, Syria recently completed its first electronic financial transaction through the global banking system since the start of its civil war in 2011.

Meanwhile, Israel has also expressed interest in normalizing ties with Syria.