President Donald Trump has announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria to give the war-ravaged country a “chance at greatness”.
The announcement came months after Syrians turned a corner in December when they booted out the more than five-decade-long authoritarian Baath regime and replaced it with the Syrian Transitional Government under President Ahmed Alsharaa.
Trump announced on May 13 the end to the “brutal and crippling” sanctions on Syria in response to demands from Alsharaa's allies in Türkiye and Saudi Arabia.
Syria first came under a broad range of US sanctions at the end of the 1970s as dictator Hafez al Assad took power through an internal party coup and seized the presidency in 1970.
The intensity of US sanctions increased in 2011 as human rights abuses by the brutal Bashar al Assad regime made global headlines in the wake of civil war.
Sanctions limit a country’s ability to trade with the outside world. Once sanctioned, a business or bank can’t make transactions in major currencies or use SWIFT, the mainstay of the global payments network that banks rely on to process cross-border trade.
The inability to trade cripples the economy, bringing the targeted regime to its knees.
Here’s a brief timeline of US sanctions on Syria since 1979.
December 1979
The US first designated Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979. As a result, Damascus faced restrictions on US foreign assistance along with a ban on defence exports and sales.
Besides, its designation as the state sponsor of terrorism also barred Syria from accessing dual-use items, which could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
May 2004
President George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2004 after the US legislature passed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003.
The executive order imposed additional sanctions, including a ban on most US exports to Syria, except food and medicine. It also put restrictions on Syrian banking transactions, besides asset freezes on individuals and entities linked to terrorism or suspected of destabilising activities.
In the subsequent two years, the White House designated the Commercial Bank of Syria as a primary money-laundering concern, prohibiting US financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts with it. It meant the sanctioned Syrian bank could no longer provide services on behalf of any US financial institution.
April-August 2011
US President Barack Obama signed an executive order in April 2011 to punish the Syrian regime for its violent repression of protests at the onset of the civil war. The sanction ensured that the Syrian officials and others responsible for human rights abuses were blocked from accessing their US properties.
Next month, another executive order targeted senior Syrian government officials, including al Assad, freezing their US-based assets and prohibiting US persons from doing transactions with them.
In August 2011, Obama signed a separate executive order imposing further sanctions that blocked all Syrian government properties in the US, banned American investments in Syria, and prohibited US imports of Syrian petroleum products.
April-May 2012
Obama targeted individuals and entities using information technology to facilitate human rights abuses in Syria by signing an executive order in April 2012 that blocked their property and suspended their entry to the US.
He also signed another executive order next month to prohibit transactions with foreign sanctions evaders related to Syria, thus enhancing enforcement of existing measures.
April 2017
Following the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack that killed more than 80 people in the then opposition-held town in north-western Syria, the US imposed sweeping sanctions on 270 government employees at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC).
The US move included asset freezes and travel bans on those involved in the manufacturing of what the US claimed was a “nerve agent” used in the chemical attack.
October 2019
President Trump authorised new sanctions on individuals and entities contributing to ‘instability’ in Syria, including those linked to human rights abuses or obstructing a political solution.
The sanctions froze assets of those involved in human rights abuses or impeding peace, and barred their US entry to deter actions exacerbating the Syrian conflict.
June-November 2020
The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act) came into effect in 2020, imposing ‘secondary sanctions’ on foreign entities and individuals doing business with the Assad regime.
Secondary sanctions are steps taken by one country aimed at targeting individuals or organisations involved in partnerships with a sanctioned country.
The legislation targeted sectors like construction, energy, and military support to pressure the Assad regime into political reform.
The US imposed additional sanctions on Syrian entities and individuals, including parliament members supporting the Assad regime during the civil war.
May 2025
Trump announces lifting of all sanctions on Syria, now under a transitional government led by Ahmed Alsharaa. The European Union had also hinted earlier that it was also considering lifting trade embargoes on the war-ravaged nation.
