Intel: Assad, wife named in new Syria sanctions

The US government named 39 individuals and entities, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his wife Asma and a coterie of regime insiders Wednesday, as part of a sweeping sanctions campaign targeting the Syrian government and its financial backers.

“Today we begin a sustained campaign of sanctions against the Assad regime under the Caesar Act,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter. “Many more sanctions will come until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war and agree to a political solution.” 

The bipartisan Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act allows for sanctions on anyone — Syrian or foreign — that does business with the government, specifically in the construction, engineering, energy or aviation sectors. Targets also include anyone who provides support for the government’s military operations or those of its main backers, Russia and Iran. 

First lady Asma al-Assad, who Pompeo describes as “one of Syria’s most notorious war profiteers,” was sanctioned by the US for the first time Wednesday. Several of the president’s relatives and members of his inner circle were also designated, including businessman Mohamed Hamsho and Assad's younger brother Maher al-Assad, who commands the elite Fourth Division of the Syrian Arab Army. The State Department also named Fatemiyoun Division, an Iranian militia operating in Syria.