U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is exploring normalising relations with Syria after meeting Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The 37-minute meeting in Riyadh brought together the U.S. president and the former insurgent whose forces ended the Assad family’s decades-long rule in December.
“I think he has got the potential,” Trump said after the encounter with al-Sharaa, who had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head until December due to past al-Qaeda links.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sat with the leaders during their conversation through a translator. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined by telephone.
Trump acknowledged that Saudi and Turkish leaders convinced him to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, a decision he announced Tuesday at a U.S.-Saudi investment forum to a standing ovation. The move represents a significant reversal from Trump’s previous statements that the U.S. had “no interest in Syria.”
“Tough guy, very strong past,” Trump later told journalists describing al-Sharaa.
Impact of sanctions on Syria
The U.S. sanctions have profoundly affected Syria’s economy and daily life, according to economic analysts and humanitarian organisations.
Restrictions have caused shortages of essential goods from fuel to medicine and hampered humanitarian agencies’ operations. Nearly all financial transactions with Syria have been banned, prompting a flourishing black market of smuggled goods.
Everyday activities like updating smartphones or accessing certain websites have become difficult, with many Syrians using virtual private networks to mask their online activity as many sites block Syrian IP addresses.
Potential economic transformation
Syria’s currency gained 60% following Trump’s announcement, signalling the potentially transformative impact of sanctions removal.
Experts caution that while lifting all three sanctions regimes could significantly improve Syrians’ lives, tangible economic changes will take time.
“I think people view sanctions as a switch that you turn on and off,” said Karam Shaar, a Syrian economist. “Far from it.”
The sanctions relief could allow Syrian banks to rejoin the international financial system and enable businesses to legally import goods. Economic improvement could potentially encourage Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries to return home if reconstruction projects begin.
Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, once led al-Qaida’s branch in Syria before cutting ties with the group and renaming his faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Syria has been under three major U.S. sanctions programs: its 1979 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, the 2003 Syria Accountability Act, and the 2019 Caesar Act targeting those responsible for atrocities during the civil war.
(With information from the BBC and the Associated Press)
