Trump team debates how to resolve plans to mitigate Syrian sanctions – state
Since President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the half-century sanctions on Syria, his administration has debated on the speed and thorough debate that should have happened.
At risk may be those who drove Syrian leader Bashar Assad from the future of his transitional government late last year to drive Syrian leader Bashar Assad from power and hope that after a devastating 13-year civil war it could stabilize the country, which killed millions or displaced people, stumbled on the economy, causing ruins and thousands of foreign fighters.
For years, the U.S. president has piled up penalties for authoritarian families who previously controlled Syria and can quickly lift or abandon them through administrative actions. But Congress has taken some of the strictest measures to have them permanently removed.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, former armed commander who led the overthrow of the act, said he was working to build an inclusive government friendly to the West. Some Trump administration officials are working to lift or waive sanctions as soon as possible without the need for tough conditions.
Others in the government have proposed a phased approach that soon imposed short-term exemptions on certain sanctions, and then bound an extended or broader executive order to Syrian meeting conditions that could slow down (and even permanently prevent) long-term relief. Commentators say this will hinder the interim government’s ability to attract investment and rebuild Syria after the war.
“Syrian sanctions are a complex network of complex regulations, administrative actions and UN Security Council resolutions that must be unraveled with caution and caution,” said Max Bluestein, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
In a statement to the Associated Press on Thursday, Bluestein said the government is “accurately analyzing the best approach” and will release it soon.
A stage of relief or permanent lifting of sanctions is aimed at future relief or permanent lifting, including the highest requirement for the removal of Palestinian militant groups, a familiar plan familiar with the plan that failed to comment publicly and issue anonymous conditions, according to Trump’s commitment to travel to the Middle East last week.
Other proposals are circulating, including those shared this week, which broadly emphasizes action as soon as possible to help Syria rebuild.
Welcome the United States' announcement in Syria
After Trump announced in Saudi Arabia last week that “will order the sanctions on Syria to give them a great opportunity for people to dance on the streets of Damascus.
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“We will give it all,” Trump said a day before meeting with the country's new leaders. “Good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio advocated a hedging approach in front of U.S. lawmakers.
Rubio pushed for sanctions relief to begin quickly, calling Syria's five-month-old transitional government a “collapse and an epic civil war.”
But when asked what sanctions relief should be in general, Rubio gave an explanation of the word: “Increment.”
Since 1979, Washington has imposed sanctions on former ruling families in Syria for its armed groups on Hezbollah and other Iranian allied forces, the so-called chemical weapons program and its cruelty to civilians, as the Assad family struggles to continue to rule.
Sanctions include severe penalties for external companies or investors who do business there. Syria needs tens of thousands of dollars to restore its abused infrastructure and help an estimated 90% of the population live in poverty.
Rubio admitted to lawmakers this week that Syria's interim leaders “had not passed their background check through the FBI.” The Al-Sharaa-led group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was originally associated with Al Qaeda, although he later gave up his tie and adopted a more gentle tone. It is still listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.
But al-Sharaa's government may be the best opportunity to rebuild the country and avoid using a power vacuum, which could revive ISIS and other extremist groups.
“If we interact with them, it may work, it may not be able to resolve. If we don't interact, it can be guaranteed not to work,” Rubio said.
Mouaz Moustafa and advocate, headquartered in the US-based Syria Emergency Task Force, who has played an influence in helping to develop past U.S. policy to Syria, said he has been providing a framework for the proposed executive order that will allow Trump to quickly eliminate many sanctions.
Moustafa declared Trump's move to propose punishment is intended to “prevent the state from failing and end permanent violence”, but some in the administration tried to “lower” the decision.
Trump administration debate
The initial documents issued by State Department policy and planners last week proposed a three-phase roadmap for sanctions relief, starting with short-term exemptions. Progress towards additional relief and direct cancellation of penalties in future stages will be linked to difficult conditions that have triggered a counterattack from some officials.
The removal of “Palestinian terrorist organization” from Syria is the first requirement to enter the second phase. Given the determination of which groups meet the definition and when it can be announced for subjectivity to remove them, sanctions supporters say this may be impossible.
Other conditions for the transfer to Phase 2 are that the new government is detaining the detention center in ISIS fighters in northeastern Syria and reaching an agreement with the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which manages the detention centers – including the inclusion of the SDF into the Syrian military.
To enter the third phase, Syria will be required to join the Abraham Agreement (the normal relationship with Israel) and prove that it has destroyed all chemical weapons from the former government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously urged the Trump administration not to lift sanctions on Syria. Israel remains suspicious of the new government, although Syrian officials publicly say they don't want a conflict with Israel.
Since Assad Fell, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes and has occupied an uningested buffer zone in Syria.
Congressional sanctions on Syria will take longer to lift
While some sanctions can be lifted through administrative actions, others face more complex processes.
Perhaps the most difficult is the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act, a series of sanctions imposed by Congress on the Assad administration’s so-called war crimes in 2019.
It specifically blocks reconstruction activities, and while it can be abandoned for 180 days by executive order, investors may be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions can be resumed six months later.
At a meeting last week with Turkey’s Foreign Secretary Rubio and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, they explained that they supported Trump’s call for immediate relief of sanctions, but according to other U.S. officials, the Syrian government’s permanent relief would require the Syrian government to take action to address other U.S. officials, they said under conditions of anonymous discussion of internal deliberations.
“We have a moment here to provide this new administration with some capacity that should be condition-based,” Graham said this week. “And I don’t want that moment to pass.”
–Sewell reported to Beirut. Matthew Lee, an Associated Press diplomatic writer in Washington, contributed to the report.
