The Scoop<\/p>\n
Advocates for fully normalized US-Syria relations are bullish that President Donald Trump will remove the country\u2019s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism as soon as Wednesday, when he\u2019s set to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.<\/p>\n
Stripping the terrorism sponsorship designation would significantly benefit al-Sharaa\u2019s government. It would also clear the way for private-sector investment in Syria, helping the US grow its foothold in the Middle East as it seeks a long-term deal to end the Iran war.<\/p>\n
Trump directed a review of the designation last June that is still ongoing, according to a State Department official. The official added that \u201ca number of steps\u201d would have to be taken before the designation can be removed.<\/p>\n
Yet there\u2019s also emerging evidence that keeping the designation in place has held back Trump\u2019s goals in the region. The state sponsor of terrorism label, first imposed on Syria in 1979 after a previous regime sided with Palestinian militants, continues to repel the business deals the country needs to recover from its crippling civil war.<\/p>\n
Companies \u201cwant to make investments, but the designation is an impediment,\u201d Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Semafor, adding that he\u2019s personally raised the matter with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not looking for perfect governments,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cAnd then there are people who benefit sadly from division and are trying to divide Syria \u2014 and it could be Iranian influence, or it could be extremists around the world trying to make it not possible for there to be a sovereign, secure, peaceful, and prosperous Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n
The GOP-controlled Congress overcame intraparty divides<\/a> to repeal Caesar Act sanctions<\/a> on Syria last year. The Trump administration has also scrapped other key restrictions \u2014 including al-Sharaa\u2019s designation as a terrorist.<\/p>\n But the state sponsor of terrorism designation has created separate legal uncertainty<\/a> for energy companies like Chevron<\/a> and ConocoPhillips<\/a>, which have already entered into agreements with Syria\u2019s state-owned oil company \u2014 likely under the assumption the label would eventually be removed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also making it harder for tech companies to export their products to Syria, fueling fears the country could soon turn to China instead.<\/p>\n Nokia, for example, recently saw a deal to sell $30,000 of telecom equipment to Syria\u2019s parliament delayed until it received a license from the US in June, according to people familiar with the process.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no legal or legislative reason for the SST [designation] to still be in place \u2014 nothing,\u201d said Charles Lister, director of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I\u2019ve heard is that it is finally a done deal in the last two or three weeks and, in Trump style, he\u2019d like to announce it \u2026 with Sharaa,\u201d Lister added.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrkiye, the host of this year\u2019s NATO summit, has advocated for scrapping the designation.<\/p>\n A White House official told Semafor in a statement for this story that \u201ca Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors\u201d is \u201ca key element of the President\u2019s vision for a peaceful and prosperous Middle East,\u201d adding: \u201cSyria must not become a base for terrorism or pose a threat to its neighbors and the wider world.\u201d<\/p>\n Know More<\/p>\n Al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last year, is also slated to<\/a> meet Wednesday with a congressional delegation led by Senate Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen. The New Hampshire Democrat recently joined Wilson and Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to urge Rubio<\/a> to ditch the state sponsor of terrorism designation.<\/p>\n Some Trump administration officials have touted energy investments in Syria as a way to weaken Iran\u2019s grasp on the world\u2019s oil, bolstering arguments for the designation\u2019s removal to encourage investments in production and pipelines.<\/p>\n US special envoy Tom Barrack asserted in March<\/a> that Syria \u201chas the sole geographic and geopolitical ability to be a solution to the Straits of Hormuz and the Red Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n Dana Stroul, research director at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy, described the designation as at odds with US efforts to install a military liaison in Damascus; share intelligence on ISIS; send back Syrian refugees; and transfer custody of ISIS prisoners.<\/p>\n Trump and al-Sharaa are also expected on Wednesday to discuss the former\u2019s calls for Syria to intervene in Lebanon, where he\u2019s predicted Syria could do \u201ca better job\u201d<\/a> than Israel at fighting Hezbollah.<\/p>\n That suggestion has been met with skepticism on Capitol Hill<\/a> and abroad, with Syria\u2019s foreign minister telling Lebanon\u2019s president earlier this month<\/a> that officials had ruled it out.<\/p>\n Stroul predicted that T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s president would \u201cexplain to [Trump] why that\u2019s not a great idea\u201d this week \u2014 and Trump would listen.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that he will be willing to walk away from it, because there\u2019s no ideology, conviction, or history driving things,\u201d Stroul said. \u201cHe just looks at the situation [and] is frustrated that it\u2019s not moving fast enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Room for Disagreement<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s allies in Washington continue to push back, arguing that the US should not remove Syria\u2019s state sponsorship of terrorism designation \u2014 at least, not without conditions<\/a> \u2014 in order to retain leverage over al-Sharaa as he sidelines the country\u2019s Kurds.<\/p>\n Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced legislation earlier this year<\/a> that would require congressional review before the designation could be removed.<\/p>\n Notable<\/p>\n Bloomberg<\/a> profiled Barrack ahead of the NATO summit.<\/p>\n