US lifts sanctions on Syrian leader ahead of meeting with Trump
The United States on Friday removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, just one day after the United Nations Security Council lifted similar sanctions ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump next week.
According to a notice on the U.S. Treasury Department website, the United States removed Specially Designated Global Terrorist designations on Sharaa and Syria's interior minister, Anas Khattab.
"These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime," State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement Friday. "This new Syrian government, led by President al-Sharaa, is working hard to missing Americans, fulfill its commitments on countering terrorism and narcotics, eliminating any remnants of chemical weapons, and promoting regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process."
Al-Sharaa is the former leader of U.S.-designated terror group al-Qaeda who was once wanted by the U.S. as a terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head. He has even served time in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 in favor of adoption of the resolution, with one abstention.
"With the adoption of this text, the Council is sending a strong political signal that recognizes Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled in December 2024," U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said moments after the resolution was adopted Thursday.
"As President Trump previously indicated, now is Syria's chance at greatness," Waltz added, noting that al-Sharaa, as well as Syria’s interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, were now 'de-listed' from a sanctions list.
Monday's meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa marks the first-ever official visit by a Syrian president to the White House.
It's also the third meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa this year, as the Syrian leader confronts the challenges of rebuilding the country, seeking to restore ties with Arab countries and the West after years of civil war under Bashar al-Assad's regime. The Assad regime's fall brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war.
A senior Trump administration official said Monday's meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa will focus on counterterrorism efforts. Syria is also expected to join the U.S.-led anti–Islamic State coalition, which includes some 80 countries working to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group, according to the official.
There is also an effort ongoing in Congress to fully repeal stringent U.S. sanctions imposed against Syria in 2019 by including the repeal in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass defense policy bill that usually clears Congress at the end of the year.
Most congressional lawmakers are eager to repeal the sanctions, arguing that the sanctions have become an obstacle to Syria's stability and reconstruction.
"Effective diplomacy requires bold action, and removing sanctions on Syria’s leadership is a necessary step to bring the Syrian economy into the 21st century. The United States remains committed to a safe, free, and stable Syria shaped by Syrians, and has committed to removing sanctions from the government," Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a joint statement Thursday.
