The U.S. Congress is moving toward lifting a set of strict sanctions imposed on Syria during the presidency of Bashar al-Assad within weeks.
According to Reuters, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have included the repeal of what is known as the “Caesar Act” sanctions — a step seen as essential for reviving the Syrian economy — in the reconciled version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a comprehensive annual defense policy bill unveiled late Sunday.
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The provision within the 3,000-page defense bill repeals the 2019 Caesar Act, while requiring regular reports from the White House confirming that the Syrian government is combating Islamic State militants, protecting the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, and refraining from unilateral and unjustified military actions against its neighbors, including Israel.
The NDAA is expected to pass before the end of the year and be signed by President Donald Trump, whose Republican allies hold majorities in both chambers of Congress and lead the committees that drafted the bill.
In a statement marking the first anniversary of the Syrian revolution’s victory, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee expressed their support for lifting Caesar Act sanctions and pledged continued efforts to help the Syrian people prosper.
Trump had previously announced his intention to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria during a meeting with President Ahmed Al-Shar’a last May. His administration temporarily suspended the sanctions. However, the Caesar sanctions — the most stringent — cannot be lifted permanently without an act of Congress.
U.S. sanctions have posed a major obstacle to Syria’s economic recovery, and lifting them is viewed as a sign of success for the new Syrian government.
The 2019 Caesar Act imposed extensive sanctions on Syria targeting individuals, companies, and institutions linked to Assad, who ruled the country from 2000 until his ouster in 2024.
The sanctions were named after the codename of a Syrian military photographer who leaked thousands of harrowing images documenting torture and war crimes committed by Assad’s government. (Agencies)
