Syria’s al-Sharaa renews call for US to formally drop sanctions

As he traveled to New York to witness the first UN General Assembly by a Syrian leader in nearly six decades, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has once more appealed to the United States to formally lift sanctions against its country.

In December, Al-Sharaa led opposition fighters who overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government.

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In May, US President Donald Trump met with US President Donald Trump in Riyadh, where they agreed to lift the majority of the sanctions. However, US law still applies to the sanctions under the 2019 Caesar Syria Civil Protection Act.

Members of Congress have been debating whether to repeal the Caesar Act, which imposed broad sanctions on Syria under al-Assad. According to some lawmakers, including Trump’s Democratic and Republican counterparts, the National Defense Authorization Act is expected to pass by December.

On Monday, al-Sharaa, al-Sharaa, speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly, stated that Syrians are increasingly seeing the sanctions against the previous Syrian leadership as direct measures against them.

According to al-Sharaa, “we have a big mission to grow the economy.”

“Syria’s workforce is diverse. They enjoy their jobs. Don’t be alarmed; it’s in its genes. You can expect the results from lifting the sanctions.

The president of Syria met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York on Monday to discuss how to strengthen its relationship with the West and lessen its isolation.

Following President Trump’s historic announcement earlier this year regarding sanctions relief for the Syrian people, Rubio “understood this opportunity for Syria to build a stable and sovereign nation,” the US Department of State said in a statement.

According to the department, they discussed the importance of Israel-Syria relations in achieving greater regional security, as well as ongoing counterterrorism efforts, as well as efforts to locate missing Americans.

Israel and Syria are still formally at war with Israel occupying Syria’s Golan Heights. Israel has launched numerous strikes against Syria since al-Assad’s assassination.

When asked if Syria could sign the Abraham Accords, which some Arab nations have done to normalize relations with Israel, al-Sharaa responded, “Syria is different. Additionally, Israel is not a neighbor of those who are parties to the Abraham Accords. As a result, Syria’s neighbor has been the target of over 1, 000 raids, strikes, and Israeli incursions.