US prepares new pressure campaign on Assad
The State Department believes it can force political concessions on Damascus, in line with recent recommendations from a congressionally mandated panel of experts.
A senior State Department official told Al-Monitor that the Trump administration plans to intensify political and economic pressure on Syria in the coming months to compel the Bashar al-Assad government to “see reality and make concessions” regarding the stalled UN-backed peace process.
The remarks come as a bipartisan study group of experts and former policymakers commissioned by Congress shared similar recommendations with lawmakers earlier this month even as it tacitly acknowledged the long odds of success.
“Assad is unwilling to compromise and intends to retake all of Syria,” the Syria Study Group wrote in an interim report obtained by Politico. The report then goes on to list key recommendations including “continu[ing] to isolate the Assad regime through sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and denial of reconstruction aid.”
The pressure campaign comes as Assad’s forces are stepping up their offensive against the last rebel-held province of Idlib, which is largely under the control of al-Qaeda breakaway group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Meanwhile, talks on Syria’s political future are being led by Russia, Iran and Turkey, with the US-backed peace process called for under UN Security Council Resolution 2254 largely sidelined.
