RIYADH: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (May 13) said he would remove all sanctions against Syria, saying they had served an important function, but it was time for the country to move forward.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh.
“It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off,” Trump said. “Good luck, Syria, show us something very special.”
Syria’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria was a “pivotal turning point” for the country.
Speaking to Syrian state news agency SANA, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said he welcomed Trump’s announcement, calling it a “pivotal turning point for the Syrian people, as we move towards a future of stability, self-sufficiency and genuine reconstruction after years of destructive war”.
President Trump is due to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. Al-Sharaa is a former insurgent who led the overthrow of former leader Bashar al-Assad last year.
The US had been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decade-long civil war.
