US President, Donald Trump has announced that he will remove the longstanding US sanctions against Syria, imposed during former President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
Speaking at the Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh, Trump stated that the sanctions against Syria had served an important function, but it was now time for the country to move forward.
Trump’s remarks follows the signing of an almost $142bn defense sales agreement that provides Riyadh with state of the art equipment and services from US firms.
Trump said that Syria has had their “share of travesty, war, killing in many years.” He added that that’s why his administration “has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.”
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness. It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off. Good luck Syria, show us something very special.”
Donald Trump
The US President said that there’s a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilising Syria and keeping peace.
He added that his decision to end the sanctions was influenced by conversations with the Saudi Crown Prince MBS and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He disclosed that Marco Rubio will be meeting Syria’s Foreign Minister in Turkey on Thursday.
Also, Trump said that he hopes Saudi Arabia will “soon” join the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries. “But you’ll do it in your own time,” he added.
“It would be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us, and you’ll be greatly honoring me and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East.”
Donald Trump
Additionally, Trump called Iran “the biggest and most destructive force [in the Middle East].” He said that Iran has caused unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.
“I want to make a deal with Iran. But if Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors then we’ll have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure.”
Donald Trump
He asserted that he’ll drive Iranian oil exports to zero. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump stressed.
He stated that the choice is Iran’s to make. He said, “This is not an offer that will last forever, the time is right now for them to choose.”
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes and it has no intention to pursue a nuclear weapon.
Decision To Lift Syria’s Sanctions Deemed Important Step
Meanwhile, Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, opined that while it is important not to overestimate the significance of Trump’s promise to lift sanctions on Syria, it is an important step in the war-torn country’s future.
“It takes away a key obstacle in their ability to establish some kind of economic development, economic prosperity but there are plenty of other obstacles and challenges the country is facing.”
Omar Rahman
Rahman said that Saudi Arabia helped push the US towards its decision to drop sanctions.
He added that besides Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE were also pushing for this to happen.
“I think the United States was really dragging its feet on sanctions – they wanted to use it as leverage in order to push other policies in Syria.
“This wasn’t something that was too difficult for Trump to do. He didn’t need to get permission from anybody. He didn’t even need consent from congress.”
Omar Rahman
The Assad regime fell during the Biden administration in December, and the new administration in Syria has hoped that Trump would consider lifting the punishing sanctions on the country.
READ ALSO: BoG Pushes for Interoperability and Consumer Protection in Cross-Border Trade
