U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order officially lifting sanctions against Syria.
On the 30th (local time), President Trump signed an executive order to terminate the national emergency declared under Executive Order 13338, which took effect on May 11, 2004, concerning the freezing of assets of specific individuals in Syria and the restriction on the export of certain goods.
Additionally, all further sanctions against Syria have been lifted, effective July 1.
According to President Trump, the main factor behind this sanctions relief is that the administration led by President Ahmed al-Shara has changed positively over the past six months after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship.
The Assad regime faced strong U.S. sanctions for the past 20 years over allegations of human rights abuses and support for groups designated as terrorists by the U.S., with these sanctions being particularly stringent after President George Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act in 2003.
This executive order appears to be a fulfillment of the promise to lift sanctions on Syria that Trump made during his recent visit to the Middle East last month. At that time, President Trump also met with interim President al-Shara for the first time.
Trump noted, "The United States supports Syria being a stable and unified nation living peacefully with its neighbors."
However, according to this executive order, sanctions against former President al-Assad, who fled to Russia before the collapse of his regime late last year, and those related to the previous Syrian regime and ISIS (referred to as 'Islamic State' by the U.S. military) are expected to remain in place.