Syria welcomes permanent lifting of US Caesar sanctions, eyes investment return

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday welcomed the permanent lifting by the United States of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way for the return of investments to the war-ravaged nation.

The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended the sanctions imposed on Syria under Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December last year.

The Caesar Act, named after an anonymous photographer who documented atrocities in Assad’s prisons, severely restricted investment and cut off Syria from the international banking system.

“Today is the first day that Syria is without sanctions, thanks to God Almighty, and then to your efforts and patience for 14 years,” Sharaa said in a recorded video in the first post of his official X account.

Sharaa gave his “special thanks to (US) President Donald Trump… for responding to the call of the Syrian people, and to the members of Congress for recognising the sacrifices of the Syrian people”.

Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions against Syria in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government headed by Sharaa, a former jihadist.

But Sharaa had sought a permanent end to the sanctions, fearing that as long as the measures remained on the books they would deter businesses wary of legal risks in the United States, the world’s largest economy.

Earlier on Friday, a Syrian foreign ministry statement welcomed the step, calling it “an entrance to the phase of reconstruction and development”.

It urged “all Syrians in the country and abroad to contribute to national recovery efforts”.