US issues demands to Syria for partial sanctions relief

The US has presented Syria with a list of demands it wants Damascus to meet in exchange for partial sanctions relief, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, according to The New Arab on March 25th.

These conditions include ensuring that foreigners do not hold senior government positions.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria, Natasha Franceschi, delivered the list of demands to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani during an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18th, according to a US official and a Syrian source familiar with the discussion.

Reuters was the first to report both the list of conditions and the in-person meeting, which marked the first high-level direct contact between Damascus and Washington since President Trump took office on January 20th.

Reuters spoke with six sources, including two US officials, a Syrian source, a regional diplomat, and two sources in Washington familiar with the matter, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues.

Among the conditions outlined are Syria’s destruction of any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and cooperation on counterterrorism, according to the two US officials, the Syrian source, and both Washington-based sources.

Another demand, according to The New Arab, was ensuring that foreign fighters are not placed in senior positions within Syria’s government structure, as stated by the US officials and one of the sources in Washington.

Syria has already appointed several foreign ex-rebel nationals, including Uyghurs, a Jordanian, and a Turk, to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a move that has raised concerns among foreign governments.

Washington also requested that Syria appoint a liaison to assist US efforts in locating Austin Tice, the American journalist who went missing in Syria over a decade ago, according to the two US officials and both sources in Washington.

In exchange for meeting these demands, Washington would offer some sanctions relief, as confirmed by all six sources.

One specific example of this could be a two-year extension of the existing exemption for transactions with Syrian government institutions, as well as the potential issuance of another exemption.

The US would also issue a statement supporting Syria’s territorial integrity, the sources added.

The sources also noted that there was no specific timeline for when the US demands for Syria would need to be met.

Syria’s Foreign Minister did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the State Department stated that the agency does not “discuss our private diplomatic conversations publicly.”

Tammy Bruce, last week, mentioned that Washington was closely monitoring the actions of Syria’s interim rulers.

Desperately in need of sanctions relief, Syria’s economy has been in freefall due to nearly 14 years of war.

Throughout this period, the US, the UK, and European nations imposed stringent sanctions on individuals, businesses, and entire sectors of Syria’s economy in an effort to isolate and pressure the regime of the now ousted leader, Bashar al-Assad.

However, certain sanctions have been temporarily suspended, though their impact has been limited.

In January, the US issued a six-month general license to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid, but this move was deemed insufficient to allow Qatar to cover public sector salaries through Syria’s central bank.

Syrian officials, including Foreign Minister Shibani and interim President Ahmed al-Sharada, have called for the complete removal of sanctions, arguing that it is unjust to maintain them following Assad’s ousting due to a swift rebel offensive in December.

The New Arab, Reuters