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QAMISHLI, syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria (North Press) – The United States moved to significantly ease its economic sanctions regime on Syria, in a policy shift intended to backing Syria’s reconstruction and re-engagement with the international economy, while retaining sanctions on the worst offenders, as per a November 2025 advisory from Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The U. S. no longer imposes comprehensive sanctions on Syria; the separate Syria sanctions program has been terminated. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act) remains suspended, with only transactions involving Russia or Iran still subject to its prohibitions. Most civilian-use U. S. -origin goods, software and technology may now be transferred to or within Syria without a license. However, crucial restrictions remain in place: Targeted sanctions continue to apply to the former syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian leader Bashar al‑Assad and his associates, human‐rights abusers, captagon traffickers, and other destabilizing actors. Syria remains designated as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” under U.
S. law and the U. S. Commerce Control List still requires licenses for numerous exports to Syria. All transactions involving Iranian- or Russian-origin goods, technology, software, funds or services remain prohibited.
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Additional relief measures include the following that on May 23, 2025, OFAC issued General License 25, authorizing certain transactions involving previously blocked persons or institutions in Syria. On Sep. 2, 2025, the Bureau of Industry and security (BIS) implemented rules simplifying license requirements for dual-use exports to Syria of mostly civilian items, including telecommunications infrastructure, sanitation, power generation and civil aviation. The advisory emphasizes that while the U. S. is lifting broad sanctions to help Syria rebuild its economy and create greater opportunities for its citizens (including ethnic and religious minorities), it retains authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to re-impose measures if required. By Jwan Shekaki