Trump has officially announced the removal of all sanctions. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump declared he will proceed to restore relations and remove sanctions on Syria’s new administration, thereby granting the nation “a chance at peace.”
Trump is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime rebel who last year helped former leader Bashar al-Assad be removed.
He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Tayyip Erdogan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, drove the initiative at rapprochement.
Trump remarked of Syria, “There is a new government that will hopefully flourish,” adding, “I say good luck, Syria. Show us something unique.
Asaad al-Shaibani, Syria’s Foreign Minister, said Tuesday that Trump’s decision to remove sanctions marks a “pivotal turning point for the Syrian people, as we move toward a future of stability, self-sufficiency, and genuine reconstruction following years of destructive war.”
Since late Hafez al- Assad visited Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000, Sharaa will be the first Syrian leader to meet an American president.
The huge boost was significant for the Syrian president, who had been incarcerated in Iraq for his involvement in the resistance during the US-led invasion of the Arab nation.
Following a spectacular attack by rebel groups headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, Sharaa was named president of Syria in January, a month after the 54-year Assad family rule was terminated.
The London Times claims, based on unidentified security sources, Sharaa might use the conference to present talks on Abraham Accords-based normalizing of relations with Israel.
With the United Arab Emirates acting as a mediator, a US security source stated that Damascus might join the deals. With negotiations concentrating on security and intelligence issues and confidence-building between the two nations, which have no official connections, Sharaa stated last week that Abu Dhabi is already serving as a middleman between Israel and Syria.
According to the insider, Washington and Gulf nations want to drive Syria away from Iranian sway. Promoted the former Assad government throughout the brutal Syrian civil war, Tehran, sworn to Israel’s annihilation, stood behind it.
Since Sharaa came to office in December, the US has been debating how to treat him. Believing it to be a barrier against Iran’s comeback to influence in Syria, Gulf leaders have banded around behind the new government in Damascus and will want Trump to follow.
Then-president Joe Biden turned the decision to Trump, whose government has not yet formally acknowledged the new Syrian government.
The White House said before Trump’s comments, “The president agreed to say hello to the Syrian President while in Saudi Arabia tomorrow.”
The remarks represented a dramatic shift in tone from Trump and set him at conflict with Israel, which has been extremely dubious of Sharaa’s extreme past and advised against quick acceptance of the new government.
Originally under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, Sharaa joined the ranks of al-Qaida militants fighting US forces in Iraq following the US-led invasion in 2003. Due of his links to al-Qaida, the US once paid $10 million for information regarding his whereabouts; he still has a warrant for his arrest on terrorism allegations in Iraq.
Sharaa returned to his birthplace in 2011 and oversaw the branch of al-Qaida known as the Nusra Front. Later on he severed ties with al-Qaida and renamed his group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
From the days of the Cold War, when Damascus kept strong ties with the Soviet Union and subsequently became Iran’s closest partner in the Arab world, Syria has had difficult relations with Washington.
Located in London, Syrian expert Ibrahim Hamidi said Trump’s meeting with Sharaa signifies a “strategic shift” in the nation, with Iran forced to depart and Russia, which also backed Assad and now provides him sanctuary, undermined.
Said Hamidi, editor-in-chief of the Arabic magazine Al Majalla, “the Syrian-American meetings in Riyadh open the gate for the two sides to start discussing disagreements and issues between them with an atmosphere of dialogue.” “This is important.”
