UPDATE - US issues immediate sanctions relief for Syria

​​​​​​​ADDS INFO

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US issued a general license providing immediate sanctions relief for Syria, the Treasury Department said Friday.

"As President Trump promised, the Treasury Department and the State Department are implementing authorizations to encourage new investment into Syria.

"Syria must also continue to work towards becoming a stable country that is at peace, and today’s actions will hopefully put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.

During a visit to the Middle East last week, President Donald Trump said he would order the removal of “brutal and crippling” US sanctions on Syria to give that country “a chance at greatness.”

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a statement that the general license authorizes transactions prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, effectively lifting sanctions on Syria.

The general license will enable new investment and private sector activity, it said.

"The U.S. Department of State is concurrently issuing a waiver under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act) that will enable our foreign partners, allies, and the region to further unlock Syria’s potential.

"This is just one part of a broader U.S. government effort to remove the full architecture of sanctions imposed on Syria due to the abuses of the Bashar al-Assad regime," it added.

The US is committed to supporting a Syria that is "stable, unified, and at peace" with itself and its neighbors, it said, adding the sanctions relief was extended to the new government with the understanding that the country would not offer a "safe haven" for terror organizations and will ensure the security of its religious and ethnic minorities.

The authorization is also intended to help rebuild Syria’s economy, financial sector and infrastructure, according to the statement.