Calls to lift global sanctions on Syria have increased post-Assad regime fall, as the country aims to recover economically and politically [Getty/file photo]
Syrian officials have rejected US amendments to a bill linked to the lifting of the Caesar Civilian Protection Act, as Damascus seeks to undo the devastating sanctions placed on the former Assad regime that is still crippling the country.
The Syrian foreign ministry has demanded that the US fully revoke the Caesar Act without preconditions, which was enacted in 2019 to target officials and entities in the Assad regime linked to war crimes, and never intended to target the current administration.
Last week, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Chris Van Hollen introduced a series of amendments to the Caesar Act that would require Damascus to conform to a detailed set of conditions on security, human rights, and relations in the region, particularly in relation to Israel.
Among those conditions are eliminating the Islamic State group, joining the coalition against it, and guaranteeing equal rights for the country’s ethnic and religious minority groups.
More controversially, it would require Syria to maintain peaceful relations with its neighbours, including Israel, which has launched waves of attacks and incursions into Syria.
According to lawmakers, the new amendments will be subject to a periodic review every six months over the next four years if passed.
Critics, including Syrian economist Abed Abed, feel that such impositions pave the way for the US to apply pressure on Damascus over the coming years, particularly over potential normalisation with Israel.
Political analyst Ahmed al-Masalma believes that if the bill is passed with these amendments, it represents a major “setback” to previously announced US efforts to lift sanctions on Syria unconditionally or with set conditions.
“These conditions cannot be understood in isolation from Israeli desires, nor the desires of Israel supporters in Congress and in the US administration, who seek to shackle the Syrian government with a long list of conditions,” he told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Tuesday in an interview.
Qutaiba Idlebi, director of the US Affairs Department at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that any binding conditions are “completely unacceptable” and that the US must completely lift the sanctions that were intended to target the oppressive Assad regime, rather than Syria as a whole.
“We reject its use in an attempt to blackmail the Syrian people,” he said.
Following the fall of the Assad regime, spearheaded by rebels in December last year, calls have increased to reevaluate and slash the sanctions, which experts say are hindering economic recovery, preventing investment flows, and prolonging Syrians’ suffering as the country attempts to rebuild and heal after 13 years of war that killed at least 500,000 people.
Earlier this year, a number of European countries agreed to drop sanctions against Syria in a bid to ease the country’s economic recovery, as Damascus entered a delicate transitional period following the ouster of the Assad regime.
Washington had also agreed to repeal several sanctions imposed on Syria in May, back when US President Donald Trump met with interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia.
Syria’s rejection of US amendments to the bill comes after Sharaa renewed appeals for the US to formally lift sanctions on Monday while delivering a speech in New York.
Speaking at the sidelines of the UNGA, Sharaa said the sanctions were “longer justified” and were increasingly viewed by Syrians as measures targeting them directly, thus hindering any economic and social progress.
During his appearance at the UN – the first by a Syrian leader in six decades – Sharaa also voiced hope for a security deal that would see the easing of tensions with Israel, amid a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
When asked about a potential normalisation with Israel as part of the controversial Abraham Accords, Sharaa downplayed the matter, stressing Syria’s lack of trust in Israel.
Israel has repeatedly violated Syria’s sovereignty over the past nine months with attacks, raids and incursions into the occupied Golan Heights and other regions over the years.
Syria and Israel remain technically at war due to the ongoing occupation of the Golan Heights territory.
