Did the U.S. really lift sanctions off Syria temporarily?

The “humanitarian exemptions”, on Syrian sanctions, are conditional!

The U.S. Treasury announced a decision on February 9 claiming to allow an easing of sanctions imposed on Syria for the ensuing six months until August 8, as part of “earthquake relief efforts.”
The decision allows for “third parties” to transfer aid to Syria without fear of U.S. sanctions, but should only be intended for aid to earthquake-effected areas. Nonetheless, the sanctions programs applied to Syria for many years, the most severe of which are the Caesar Act (2019) and Captagon Act (2022), provide for “humanitarian exceptions,” but are conditional on U.S. approval.

Did the U.S. really lift sanctions off Syria temporarily?

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Did the U.S. lift sanctions on Syria?

So any earthquake relief effort must take place away from the Syrian state. In other words, it must contribute to undermining the sovereignty of the Syrian state, or it will not take place.

The earthquake ought to loosen US policy on Syria

Lifeless bodies pulled from ruins, roads and bridges ripped apart, entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble — these are the classic earthquake images. The latest come from Turkey and Syria, which were devastated by a fierce quake on Monday. Turkey, with a thriving economy, a well-organized state, and rich Western friends, is well equipped to rush relief to victims. In Syria the situation is quite the opposite.

The earthquake ought to loosen US policy on Syria

Attack on Syria church gathering kills 2

Two people were killed and 12 injured Sunday by bombardment of a church as it was being inaugurated in Syria’s central province of Hama, the official SANA news agency reported.

Sunday’s attack came two days after bombardment killed seven people including four children in the rebel-held Idlib region.

Around half of Idlib province as well as parts of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces are controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former franchise in Syria of al-Qaeda.

Attack on Syria church gathering kills 2

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How a US-led Unholy Alliance is Preventing Syria’s Normalisation

How a US-led Unholy Alliance is Preventing Syria’s Normalisation

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Erdogan Calls on West to Throw Full Support Behind Turkey in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Western powers to throw their support behind Turkey in Syria in an op-ed published in Bloomberg on Monday.

In 2020, Turkey sent thousands of fighters into Idlib province to halt a Syrian government offensive to retake the territory. Idlib is currently controlled mostly by Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda affiliate formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

Cynical US Policy on Syria Revealed: Block the Russians and Iranians, Destroy the Economy, to Hell with the People

By Peter Ford | 21st Century Wire | December 15, 2020

The Rambo of the State Department is leaving. James Jeffrey, the outgoing Syria envoy, boasts about his achievements in a recent candid interview with Al-Monitor which with no sense of shame opens up to public gaze the cynicism, callousness and sheer power-crazedness of US policy on Syria, conducted as though it were a video game or a game of Monopoly.

Cynical US Policy on Syria Revealed: Block the Russians and Iranians, Destroy the Economy, to Hell with the People

I don’t believe that Trump would “apply the brakes,” though!