Egypt is still seeking “proper clearance” from the United States so that it can supply natural gas to energy-starved Lebanon without exposing itself to sanctions targeting the Syrian regime and its benefactors, the Egyptian petroleum minister told Al-Monitor during his visit to Washington last week. 

“We do not want to find ourselves helping our brothers in Lebanon but meanwhile penalized,” explained Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla. “Therefore we need to make sure that we will get the proper clearance,” he said. “So it's a work in progress.”

Egypt has agreed to a US-endorsed deal to transport Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon using the Arab Gas Pipeline, an existing transnational pipeline extending from Egypt to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria. For its participation in the World Bank-financed project, the Syrian government will receive in-kind compensation in the form of gas supplies instead of cash payments, Molla said.

What the US says: The Biden administration has downplayed concerns that the energy plan would violate US sanctions barring certain transactions with the Syrian government. Senior State Department official Victoria Nuland said in October that because the deal “falls under the humanitarian category, no sanctions waiver would be required.”