DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s government and its allies welcomed the final lifting of some of the toughest sanctions imposed on the country in recent decades on Friday.
The U.S. Congress imposed so-called Caesar Act sanctions on the Syrian government and financial system in 2019 to punish then-President Bashar al-Assad for human rights abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war that began in 2011.
After Assad was ousted from power in a rebel lightning offensive in December 2024, supporters – including some who had previously lobbied for sanctions – pushed for them to be lifted. They argue that sanctions are preventing international investors from starting reconstruction projects and preventing Syria from rebuilding its battered economy and infrastructure.
President Donald Trump, who had previously temporarily lifted the penalties through an executive order, signed the final repeal late Thursday after Congress passed them as part of the annual U.S. defense spending bill.
Some lawmakers had pushed to repeal the ban on the condition that Syria’s new Sunni Islam-dominated government take steps to protect religious minorities, among other measures. In the end, the sanctions were unconditionally lifted, but they required regular reporting to Congress on Syria’s progress on issues such as minority rights and counterterrorism measures.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry thanked the United States for the move in a statement on Friday, saying it would “help ease the burden on the Syrian people and open the way to a new phase of recovery and stability.”
It called on Syrian businessmen and foreign investors to “explore investment opportunities and participate in reconstruction,” which the World Bank estimates will cost $216 billion.
Central bank governor Abdulkader Husrieh said in a statement that repealing the Caesar Act would facilitate the country’s reintegration into the international financial system by allowing it to seek a sovereign credit rating.
“Syria will likely start out with a lower rating, which is normal for a country emerging from conflict,” he said. “The real value is in the benchmarks the ratings set and the roadmap for improvement they provide.”
Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, regional allies of Syria’s new government led by interim President Ahmed Salah, also welcomed the move.
“We hope that this move will further promote international cooperation in Syria’s reconstruction and development, thus helping to strengthen Syria’s stability, security and prosperity,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Onku Keceli said in a statement.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry praised “the important and positive role played by U.S. President Donald Trump in lifting sanctions.”
Trump previously said he had moved to lift the penalties at the urging of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Also on Friday, Britain lifted broad sanctions on the Syrian government and financial institutions and imposed new sanctions on organizations and individuals it said were “engaged in violence against civilians” in Syria.
They include four people with military or financial ties to Assad’s government, as well as two people with links to Syria’s new government military and three armed groups said to be responsible for attacks on civilians during sectarian violence off the Syrian coast earlier this year.
Clashes erupted in March after a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces. They have escalated into revenge killings as Syria’s majority Sunni militants, some of whom are officially affiliated with the new government’s security forces, target members of Assad’s Alawite sect regardless of whether they are involved in the insurgency. Hundreds of civilians were killed.
