Biden extends anti-Syrian
sanctions for another year

WASHINGTON DC (TASS): US President Joe Biden has decided to extend the unilateral sanctions against Syria for another year. This follows from a notice published on Monday by the White House in the collection of official documents of the US government – the so-called federal register.
We are talking about maintaining in force various restrictive measures that were consistently introduced by Washington against Damascus in the period from 2004 to 2012. These restrictions, in particular, provide for the blocking of assets of certain individuals and legal entities under the jurisdiction of the United States, as well as a ban on the export of certain categories of American goods and services to Syria.
“The actions of the Syr-ian regime <…> pose an ex-treme threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States. In this regard, the state of emergency declared on May 11, 2004, and [the measures taken in connection with this] <…> must operate after May 11, 2021. Therefore <…> I extend for one year the state of emergency declared in connection with the actions of the Syrian government,” the document says.
The message at the same time asserts that the Syrian leadership allows “violence and violation of human rights.” The United States calls on [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s regime and his supporters to stop their brutal war against their own people, impose a nationwide ceasefire, ensure the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to all Syrians in need, and discuss a political settlement in Syria,” the notice reads.
It also notes that “the US will take into account changes in the policies and actions of the Syrian government when deciding whether to maintain” the current unilateral sanctions regime going forward.
Biden’s predecessors in this post also extended the regime of anti-Syrian sanctions, practically without changing the text of this notice.