Latest news with #sanctionsrelief
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Witness History The Iran nuclear deal
On 14 July 2015, Iran agreed to temporarily limit its nuclear programme. The deal was signed in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it was agreed between Iran and a group of world powers known as the P5+1 – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, together with the EU. The accord came after years of tension over Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insisted that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful, but much of the international community did not believe that. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme and facilitate international inspections, in return for economic sanctions relief. Baroness Catherine Ashton, who was the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tells Ben Henderson how the plan was achieved. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina's Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous 'tear down this wall' speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler's List; and Jacques Derrida, France's 'rock star' philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world's oldest languages. (Photo: Baroness Catherine Ashton and Javad Mohammad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister, during nuclear negotiations in 2014. Credit: Dieter Nagl/AFP via Getty Images)
Al Bawaba
30-06-2025
- Business
- Al Bawaba
Trump lifts sanctions on Syria in major policy shift
ALBAWABA- The United States has officially lifted the majority of its economic sanctions on Syria, marking a historic pivot in Washington's Middle East policy. The decision, announced in a statement from the White House, follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump and is aimed at giving Syria 'an opportunity to rebuild' after more than 14 years of civil war. The move is widely seen as a vote of confidence in Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose revolution ousted Bashar al-Assad last year, ending five decades of Assad family rule. Trump, who first hinted at the sanctions relief during his May visit to Riyadh, met with al-Sharaa shortly after and praised him as a 'tough man' and a 'fighter with a strong past.' According to U.S. officials, the executive order will end most financial restrictions, while retaining sanctions on Assad, now in exile in Russia, along with his key associates, individuals involved in human rights violations, chemical weapons programs, and Iran-backed militias. The order also directs the Secretary of State to review Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as the status of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in Syria's new government, which the U.S. previously listed as a terrorist organization. Brad Smith, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said the decision paves the way for renewed international investment and reintegration of Syria into the global financial system. 'The actions taken today will end the country's isolation, encourage trade, and support regional stability,' he stated. While HTS and al-Sharaa's government emerged from factions with past ties to al-Qaeda, al-Sharaa renounced those affiliations in 2016 and pledged to build an inclusive government representing all sects and communities. Despite ongoing divisions within Syria, U.S. officials say the new leadership has shown signs of moderation and willingness to align with Western interests. The White House also confirmed that the administration is exploring normalization of relations between Syria and Israel as part of a broader regional strategy. Officials expressed hope that Syria could eventually join the Abraham Accords, following the model of the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states that established ties with Israel in 2020. Israel, which launched a series of military operations in Syria following Assad's fall, has indicated a potential shift. On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said his country is open to formal relations with Damascus. The Syrian Foreign Ministry welcomed the executive order, describing it as 'a critical turning point' that removes a major barrier to national recovery. Officials in Damascus say the lifting of sanctions will help restore vital infrastructure, attract foreign investment, and lay the groundwork for the safe return of millions of displaced Syrians. The move comes after Washington issued a 180-day exemption from the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act last year, and a general license authorizing limited transactions with al-Sharaa's government, steps seen at the time as a prelude to broader normalization. Despite optimism, U.S. authorities stressed they will continue to monitor Syria's political developments closely. The Treasury Department confirmed that sanctions will remain in place against actors deemed a threat to U.S. interests, including ISIS affiliates, pro-Iran militias, and extremist Palestinian groups.
The National
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Trump to sign executive order lifting Syria sanctions
US President announced during his visit to Riyadh last month that he would be giving Syria near-total sanctions relief President Donald Trump on Monday will sign an executive order to lift US sanctions on Syria. Mr Trump announced during his visit to Riyadh last month that he would be giving Syria near-total sanctions relief. But unwinding the US laws and designations is a complex process and requires Congressional action in some cases. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the executive order reaffirms the President's "belief that the Syrian people deserve a future of safety and prosperity". "This policy, reflects the President's conviction that American leadership can unlock new paths to regional stability," Ms Bruce told reporters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order will remove sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanctions on former president Bashar Al Assad. "His associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS and their affiliates, and Iranian policies" will remain under sanctions, she said.
Arab News
02-06-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Can sanctions relief deliver quick wins for Syria's economy?
LONDON: Like a relic from another era, its promise long faded, the Syrian pound still lingers in the wallets of shopkeepers and shoppers in Damascus. Yet, green shoots of hope are sprouting across the war-weary nation. That rekindled sense of optimism owes much to US President Donald Trump's pledge to ease sanctions and signs of regional support for Syria's economic recovery. A major boost came on May 31, when Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced they would jointly fund salary support for Syrian state employees, many of whom have struggled for years on paltry and irregular wages. The pledge builds on earlier Gulf efforts to stabilize Syria's economy and signals a deeper commitment to reconstruction. On May 12, Saudi Arabia and Qatar settled Syria's $15.5 million in arrears to the World Bank's International Development Association — a key step that reopened access to loans and grants. The international backing comes at a crucial moment. After 14 years of war and isolation, Syria's economy has nearly collapsed. Exports have dried up, foreign reserves have fallen to just $200 million, the currency has lost 99 percent of its value, and more than 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line. Trump's March 13 announcement in Riyadh sparked spontaneous celebrations in the capital's streets. But even amid the jubilation, many Syrians recognized that true recovery would take more than a policy shift — and much longer to materialize. 'Partial sanctions relief sends a political signal, not a legal guarantee,' Harout Ekmanian, public international lawyer at Foley Hoag LLP in New York, told Arab News. 'Investors remain cautious, and there is a risk of overcompliance with any remaining sanctions that are in place, particularly in sensitive sectors like banking,' he said. He added that the need for 'a complete lifting of the tangled web of sanctions to facilitate investment from compliance sensitive investors from the US and Europe' cannot be overstated. Delaney Simon, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group's US program, concurred. 'If Trump is actually planning to lift all or even most sanctions on Syria, he is doing something virtually unprecedented in the recent history of sanctions relief,' he told Arab News. He cautions, though, that 'lifting sanctions is not straightforward.' 'It will require a massive bureaucratic and possibly political lift in Washington, including mobilization of different arms of the US government including the Treasury, State and Commerce departments and Congress,' Simon said. Even with formal relief, private firms may be slow to re-engage. 'Relief on paper might not translate to relief in practice,' he said. 'The private sector may be wary of engaging with Syria once the restrictions are lifted.' Despite those concerns, Simon urges patience. 'President Trump has a tough road ahead to make good on this commitment, but he should persevere,' he said. 'He is right that lifting sanctions gives Syria a chance at greatness.' For now, such an outcome remains uncertain. The most severe Western sanctions were imposed in 2011 by the US, EU, UK, and others in response to the Assad regime's crackdown on protesters. Following the ousting of Bashar Assad in December, the new interim government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, inherited a damaged economy and the sanctions that helped undermine it. Washington's measures were among the most sweeping: a near-total trade embargo, asset freezes, and secondary sanctions targeting foreign firms doing business with Syria. The Caesar Act of 2020 imposed additional restrictions, further isolating Assad's regime. Signs of change came on May 23, when the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 25, lifting most of those restrictions. The relief, however, comes with conditions: political reform, respect for human rights, and counterterrorism commitments from Damascus. Soon after, the EU and UK followed suit, underscoring a broader Western alignment with the Al-Sharaa government. Still, experts say sanctions relief alone will not revive an economy ravaged by years of conflict. A key next step is rejoining the SWIFT financial network. Bankers in Damascus expect the connection to be restored within weeks, enabling smoother international transactions and potentially unlocking billions in remittances from Syrians abroad. Nevertheless, global banks remain cautious, awaiting clearer legal guidance from Western governments. 'Syria's financial system is a black box that nobody understands,' Stephen Fallon, a banking and sanctions expert, told The Economist newsmagazine. 'If I run a Western bank and I accidentally receive funds from terrorists, it's me the American regulators will come after.' Foley Hoag's Ekmanian sees potential short-term gains but says they depend on legal clarity. 'Sanctions relief can act as a pressure valve by easing immediate economic distress, but without legal clarity on asset recovery and investor protections, quick wins may remain elusive,' he said. Access to frozen reserves could help stabilize liquidity. But long-term recovery, he added, depends on structural reform and investor confidence — both difficult to achieve. Syria's central bank holds just $200 million in foreign exchange reserves, Reuters news agency reported — a steep decline from the $18.5 billion the International Monetary Fund estimated before the war. It also retains nearly 26 tonnes of gold, currently valued at over $2.6 billion. The interim government hopes to unlock up to $400 million in frozen overseas assets to fund reforms, including recent salary hikes for public workers. But the actual value, location, and timeline for repatriation remain unclear. Switzerland has identified $118 million in local banks, according to Reuters, while The Syria Report estimates another $217 million is in the UK. Ekmanian emphasized that even modest gains 'hinge on the credibility of the sanctions relief architecture.' He noted that 'if businesses fear snapback sanctions or regulatory ambiguity, even the thawing of restrictions won't translate into meaningful economic movement.' Predictability, he said, underpins international investment. 'International investment law tells us that predictability is key,' he said. 'While sanctions relief can unlock trade routes and aid, without legal assurances and investment protection commitments, Syria risks a piecemeal recovery vulnerable to geopolitical shifts.' Beyond legal guarantees, Syria must overhaul its domestic institutions. 'Legal frameworks must catch up with policy signals,' Ekmanian said. 'Re-engagement with Syria under international economic law requires more than opening bank accounts,' he explained. 'It demands credible reforms to the domestic legal framework, judiciary, arbitration frameworks, debt transparency, and governance of sovereign assets.' He also warned of legal risks that could deter investors: a growing docket of war-related tort and atrocity litigation in European and US courts under universal jurisdiction and terrorism exceptions to sovereign immunity. 'Even with various US sanctions and EU Council Regulation 36/2012 partially relaxed, this needs to be accompanied by steps to ensure that the new government and Syrian people are not unduly burdened by the prior regime's liabilities,' he said. Ultimately, he said, 'modest sanctions relief can ease humanitarian transactions and marginally bolster foreign-exchange buffers, but it cannot deliver a durable uplift in trade, investment or debt restructuring without parallel movement on governance, transparency, and human-rights benchmarks that anchor international economic law.' Syria's external debt is another major obstacle, estimated by the new government to be between $20 billion and $23 billion — high relative to its 2023 GDP of about $17.5 billion. Much of it was accrued under Assad through military and oil-related loans from allies such as Iran and Russia, complicating restructuring efforts. Despite these hurdles, some see progress. 'US sanctions relief will be a major step not only towards economic recovery, but also towards ending the cycles of violence that have trapped Syria for over a decade,' said Nanar Hawach, a senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group. He argued that economic collapse has contributed to insecurity by weakening services, deepening grievances and driving recruitment into armed groups. 'Lifting sanctions could help reverse that dynamic,' he told Arab News. Syria's post-Assad transition remains unsettled. Renewed violence has erupted in several areas, including rural Damascus, Homs, and the Alawite-dominated coast, now largely controlled by HTS, the group that led the offensive to oust Assad. The group has since absorbed rival factions, some still having Daesh-aligned extremists in their ranks. Elsewhere, sectarian clashes have hit Homs and rural Damascus, while the interim government struggles to contain unrest among Druze in the south and Kurds in the northeast. Still, the psychological effect of sanctions relief may prove powerful. 'The most immediate benefit is psychological: a clear boost in investor confidence,' Hawach said. 'Even when sanctions were partially eased in the past, most banks and companies, especially international ones, avoided Syria out of fear of getting blacklisted,' he said. 'Simply put, the word 'Syria' was enough to trigger overcompliance,' but a shift is noticeable now. He noted that some regional investors are already engaging with Syria. 'Some have already taken the decision to invest and are now looking into the technical aspects of it,' he said. 'There's a lot of momentum. It's looking very promising.' Since May 13, several regional investors have announced major projects. On May 29, Syria signed a strategic agreement with a consortium led by Qatar's UCC Holding to build four gas power plants and a 1,000-megawatt solar facility — a $7 billion investment expected to meet over half the country's electricity needs. In another sign of momentum, DP World, the Dubai-based ports operator, signed an $800 million agreement to develop and expand the port of Tartus — the largest foreign investment in Syria since sanctions relief began. Diaspora entrepreneurs are also stepping in. Mohamed Ghazal, managing director of Startup Syria, a community-led initiative supporting Syrian entrepreneurs, says Syrian startup founders are targeting key sectors for recovery: infrastructure, public services, agriculture, digital services, and food security. 'These sectors can generate jobs quickly, particularly in construction, agriculture, and tech,' Ghazal told Arab News. He also cited healthcare, education, and fintech as areas for investment, especially given Syria's push to reconnect with global financial systems. 'Vocational training, online learning, digital health services — these are where youth and diaspora professionals can really contribute,' he said. As Syria begins its journey back into the international community, the road ahead is still rocky and the challenges daunting. Yet, for the first time in years, the nation appears to be moving toward a new era — one shaped not by conflict and sanctions, but by constructive diplomacy, reform and cautious optimism.
The Independent
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Iran says no chance of nuclear deal with US without clarity on sanctions relief
Iran says it will not strike a nuclear deal with the US until it has clarity on sanctions relief even as Washington pushes for a speedy agreement. Iran and the US have held five rounds of talks since April, primarily mediated by Oman, to work out a new agreement, with Washington focussed on preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran says it's willing to negotiate but insists on a deal that guarantees lasting sanctions relief and respects its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes, a key sticking point. "I regret to inform you that the American side has not yet been willing to clarify this issue," a foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said during a weekly press conference in Tehran. "It must be clear to us how the oppressive sanctions against the Iranian people will be lifted to ensure that past experiences are not repeated. No agreement will happen unless we have clear and reliable assurances about the end of sanctions. So far, we haven't seen what we need to from the other side – only repeated waves of sanctions before each round of negotiations.' Omani foreign minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who is mediating the talks, presented elements of an American proposal for a nuclear deal during a short visit to Tehran on Saturday. US president Donald Trump, who ripped up the previous nuclear deal during his first presidency, recently said he envisioned an agreement with Iran that would let America 'blow up' any infrastructure, such as nuclear sites and labs, deemed a threat. He said such a deal could be finalised in the 'next couple of weeks' and claimed talks had made 'a lot of progress'. An advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said ' accessing Iran's nuclear sites and 'blowing up infrastructure' is a fantasy past US presidents shared'. 'Iran is independent, with strong defenses, resilient people, and clear red lines,' Ali Shamkhani added. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He now wants to replace or modify it with a "stronger" deal, threatening military action if diplomacy fails.
