State Department says more Syria sanctions possible before presidential transition
US Syria envoy Joel Rayburn also told Congress that non-Syrians could soon be sanctioned under the Caesar Act.
A State Department official told Congress today that the US government could add further Syria-related sanctions before US President Donald Trump leaves office, including on non-Syrians.
The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act took effect in June and has led to sanctions on a number of Syrians with alleged ties to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The goal of the act is to sanction people and entities who enable human rights violations from the Syrian state. The act also targets those seeking to profit from reconstruction plans in Syria. Some of the most recent sanctions include Syrian financial and intelligence officials in September.
US special envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn testified at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday on Syria policy. Committee chairman Eliot Engel started the hearing by asking Rayburn why non-Syrians, with the exception of two Lebanese shipping companies, have not been sanctioned under the act.
“The goal of the legislation was to pressure Assad’s international support system and raise the cost of bankrolling the wholesale slaughter of Syrian people,” said Engel, who criticized people in Russia in particular for working with the Syrian government.
