By The New York Times
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The Trump administration on Friday lifted several major sanctions on Syria, a first step toward making good on President Donald Trump’s promise this month to help the country’s new leader establish a stable government after the fall of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad last year.

The Treasury Department lifted regulations banning U.S. citizens and companies from making most financial transactions with Syrian citizens and entities, including Syria’s central bank, officials said. At the same time, the State Department announced that it was suspending for six months other tough sanctions imposed on Syria under the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that lifting the sanctions would “advance Syria’s recovery and reconstruction efforts” and “facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response” in the country.

The Assad government cracked down on an uprising in 2011, setting off a civil war that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and forced a mass exodus of Syrians.

In December, the Assad regime was finally overthrown by a rebel alliance after more than 10 years of fighting, and Ahmad al-Sharaa, a rebel leader, became president. Al-Sharaa once led a branch of al-Qaida but later broke with the jihadi group, and in recent interviews, he has expressed support for democracy, presenting a more pragmatic, nationalist approach to governing.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia this month, Trump agreed to meet with al-Sharaa, becoming the first U.S. leader in a generation to shake hands with a Syrian head of state.

Trump said he had reached the decision to lift the sanctions on Syria after speaking with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed the anti-Assad insurgency, and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

“There is a new government that will, hopefully, succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Trump said in Saudi Arabia on May 13. “That’s what we want to see in Syria.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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