The U.S. government announces a partial lifting of sanctions on Syria, aiming to facilitate recovery,but is an open question whether this move signals genuine economic reopening or a strategic political maneuver.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this Friday the formal partial lifting of sanctions on Syria, following the announcement made by former President Donald Trump just over a week ago in Saudi Arabia. According to Rubio, this measure seeks to facilitate stability and economic recovery in Syria by allowing investments and improving access to basic services such as electricity, water, and sanitation.

Details of the Measure and Declared Objectives

The Secretary of State emphasized that the lifting of sanctions aims to “ensure that sanctions do not hinder the ability of our partners to make investments that promote stability and advance recovery and reconstruction efforts in Syria.”

However, analysts and international observers point out that this apparent opening could be more of a strategy to pressure the Syrian government to accept political commitments with the United States, a common practice in U.S. foreign policy. In this sense, the sanction relief would function as a bargaining tool to influence Syria’s internal decisions rather than simply a humanitarian or economic measure.

Additionally, the Treasury Department announced authorizations to encourage new investments in the country, including allowing U.S. financial institutions to maintain ties with the Commercial Bank of Syria, which could also be conditioned on political progress.

Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Syria General License (GL) 25 to provide immediate sanctions relief for Syria in line with the President’s announcement for the cessation of all sanctions on Syria. GL 25 authorizes transactions…

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) May 23, 2025

On May 13, during his Middle East tour, Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, describing the previous measures as “devastating” though having served an important function at the time. A day later, Trump met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, interim president of Syria, in the first official meeting between representatives of the two countries in 25 years.

While the announcement has been met with caution by various analysts, some experts suggest this opening could be a first step toward reestablishing diplomatic and economic relations, while others closely watch the conditions Washington may impose to advance this new phase.

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