This action comes after a comparable decision by the UN Security Council and precedes Ahmad al-Sharaa’s scheduled meeting with Donald Trump by only a few days.
The United Kingdom has rescinded its sanctions against Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, after the United Nations opted to delist him from its roster of terrorists. This development occurs prior to al-Sharaa’s forthcoming trip to the United States.
On Friday, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) issued an official statement confirming that al-Sharaa, alongside Interior Minister Anas Khattab, has been taken off its blacklist and is consequently “no longer subject to an asset freeze.”
The UN Security Council had delisted both individuals the preceding day, following a vote by its members supporting a US-initiated resolution to remove them from the ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.
Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani while leading the Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), rose to power by seizing control from the previous President Bashar Assad.
Since al-Sharaa’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia in May—the first such high-level contact between the two countries in over two decades—the US has advocated for the 15-member Security Council to relax sanctions on Syria. Trump subsequently declared a significant shift in US policy, indicating a plan to lift sanctions on Syria.
Last week, Tom Barrack, the US Special Envoy to Syria, confirmed al-Sharaa’s upcoming visit to Washington, DC. Barrack stated that during this visit, Damascus would “hopefully” become part of the US-led alliance aiming to defeat Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS). This occasion marks the initial visit of a Syrian president to the White House.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Washington intends to augment its military footprint in Syria and is engaging in discussions with Damascus regarding the potential use of an airbase by American forces. This pact, which is reportedly associated with a non-aggression agreement between Syria’s new administration and Israel, is anticipated to create a demilitarized area in the southern region of the nation.
The US has sustained a presence in Syria via a contentious base situated in the southeast, encircled by an exclusion zone that Moscow has characterized as a terrorist sanctuary. Neither Assad nor the current government under al-Sharaa has formally permitted an American military presence within the nation.