In response to Emirati investments in Damascus, the US State Department: We will not lift sanctions imposed on the Assad regime
The US State Department confirmed that the sanctions imposed on the Assad regime have not been lifted, in response to a decision taken by UAE to build a solar power plant in the Damascus countryside.
The US State Department spokesman said to “Al-Hurrah channel: “The Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken clarified that we haven’t lifted the sanctions imposed on Syria, and we haven’t changed our position concerning opposing rehabilitating Syria, until an irreversible progress is achieved towards a political solution that we consider necessary and vital.”
The Spokesman explained that “while the humanitarian aid to Syria is exempt from the sanctions, many other investments in Assad regime-held areas are not exempt.”
On the same day that bin Zayed met with Bashar al-Assad, the United States stressed that it “will not support any efforts to normalize or rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad, who is a brutal dictator.”
It should be noted that last year, the United States imposed sanctions on the Assad regime, under the “Caesar Act,” which provides for imposing sanctions on anyone who cooperates with the Assad regime to rebuild Syria and push for a political solution in Syria.
