President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday lifting sanctions on Syria, the latest step in warming relations between Trump and Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The executive order, Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions, will terminate various sanctions programs on Syria and the national emergency with respect to Syria, beginning on January 1, according to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“These actions reflect the President’s vision of fostering a new relationship between the United States and a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” Rubio said in a statement. “U.S. sanctions will not be an impediment to Syria’s future.”
The announcement comes after Trump met with Sharaa — who toppled Syria’s anti-American dictator, Bashar al-Assad — during his visit to Gulf nations in May. After the meeting, Trump described the terrorist turned head of state as a “young attractive guy” with a “very strong past.” The meeting between Trump and Sharaa was the first meeting between an American president and a Syrian leader in 25 years.
“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” Trump said of Sharaa. “I spoke with [Turkish] President Erdogan, who is very friendly with him. He feels he’s got a shot of doing a good job. It’s a torn-up country.”
The executive order will also relax some restrictions on exports to Syria.
“This is in an effort to promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. “The order will remove sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanctions on the former president Assad and his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS and their affiliates, and Iranian proxies.”
According to the order, “the United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and neighbors” and a “Syria that does not offer a safe haven for terrorist organizations and ensures the security of its religious and ethnic minorities will support regional security and prosperity.”
It adds that Syria has been transformed in the last six months since Sharaa’s government took over for Assad.
