ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE.
The US will exclude Syria’s northeastern and northwestern regions from sanctions imposed on the country, the North Press Agency (NPA) reported on February 25.
US sources told the agency that sanctions imposed under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 will continue to target government-held parts of the country.
“Caesar’s sanctions will continue to target areas under Assad’s control, as the law prohibits foreign entities from dealing with Assad or participating in construction and reconstruction activities in this part of Syrian territory,” one of the sources told NPA.
Syria’s northeastern region is split between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and Turkish-backed rebel forces. The northwestern region, however, is controlled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US.
According to the NPA, Syria’s northeastern and northwestern regions will be able to trade and deal with foreign entities. However, sanctions will be kept on the country’s oil sector, including the production fields and facilities held by US allies in the northeastern region.
“Sanctions will be lifted on all financial transactions in areas outside Assad’s authority, enabling foreign entities to operate in the region, while Syrian oil, including the oil of northeastern Syria, will remain subject to sanctions,” the agency quoted one of its sources as saying.
US officials talked in the past about excluding Syria’s northeastern region from the sanctions, as it is mostly held by proxies of Washington. However, the decision to also exclude the northwestern region, which is held by a designated terrorist group, was not discussed before.
Despite the fact that government-held areas in Syria will remain under sanctions, Damascus stands to gain from the US decision. To this day, government-held areas are still trading with the northeastern region which could soon become a hub for sanctions evasion.
US sanctions contributed to a severe economic crisis that left Damascus and even Ankara and Washington allies in Syria incapable of providing basic services for the population.
Of course we will. We will do this at the same time we howl about the illegal partitioning of Ukraine. I hope there is a God in heaven who will judge the good from the bad because the U.S. will never recover from its madness.
Just remember: the elites project. Everything they say they condemn, they do–or plan to do–themselves.