Trump to roll back US sanctions on Syria

President Trump announced Tuesday he was rolling back sanctions on Syria at the urging of allies in the Middle East in an effort to boost the new government in Damascus.

“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in remarks in Riyadh, prompting a standing ovation from a sea of Saudi officials in the room.

Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had encouraged him to remove the sanctions, which had been imposed against the former Bashar al-Assad regime amid a brutal civil war. The Assad government was driven out of office by Syrian rebels late last year.

“Oh what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said with a laugh on Monday. “The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important function…but now it’s [Syria’s] time to shine.”

Trump said his secretary of State, Marco Rubio, would meet later this week in Turkey with the new Syrian foreign minister.

U.S. sanctions had cut Syria off from the global financial system and imposed other economic penalties on the government as civil war raged on for more than a decade. Leaving those sanctions in place would make it difficult for the new government to lead a recovery, experts said.

“In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Trump said.

He also said his administration would look to assist Lebanon to find peace and economic development. Lebanon also has a new government after Nawaf Salam was appointed prime minister earlier this year.