Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa last month in Saudi Arabia. (AP)
Some sanctions will still need to be lifted by Congress, and others date to 1979, when Syria was designated a state sponsor of terrorism. The administration has not yet lifted that designation.
Trump met last month with Syria’s new interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, during a Middle East stint.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Syria for years under the regime of Bashar al-Assad. (Reuters)
Al-Sharaa had been campaigning hard for a relationship with Washington and sanctions relief: he offered to build a Trump Tower in Damascus, détente with Israel, and U.S. access to Syria's oil and gas. He worked to soften the image of HTS and promised an inclusive governing structure.
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The new order comes as Israeli and Syrian officials are engaged in back-channel talks on a potential security and normalization deal.
U.S. sanctions have included financial penalties on any foreign individual or company that provided material support to the Syrian government and prohibited anyone in the U.S. from dealing in any Syrian entity, including oil and gas. Syrian banks also were effectively cut off from global financial systems.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-sign-order-lifting-sanctions-syria