Members of Congress demand Blinken for clarification on Syria’s exemptions from “Caesar”
Three members of the US Congress from the Republican Party demanded US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for clarifications about exemptions that include areas in Syria from the sanctions of the “Caesar Act”.
This came in a message published by US Senator Joe Wilson, who confirmed that the members are inquiring about the truth of the news that the US administration is going to grant exemptions from the “Caesar” sanctions targeting the Assad regime.
The letter indicated that the US administration has taken a policy in dealing with the Assad regime that is inconsistent with the policy of Congress regarding the “Caesar” sanctions in 2019.
The members criticized the Biden administration’s inaction and its failure to respond quickly to imposing sanctions under the aforementioned law, noting the different treatment of sanctions during the era of former President Donald Trump.
The letter indicated that the Biden administration appears to be more interested in weakening sanctions by issuing broad exceptions and waivers, and in some cases ignoring the law at all.
Despite the Biden administration’s claim that it opposes Arab normalization with the Assad regime, such exceptions tactically contribute to giving the green light for normalization with the Assad regime, and also produce a tendency to weaken or lift sanctions against some of the United States’ opponents, such as the ruling regime in Venezuela and Iran.
In addition, the “Caesar” law and the authorities authorized to impose sanctions had set up a specific licensing mechanism that is used to study each case individually, with the aim of achieving legitimate economic interests in northern Syria.
Members expressed concern about a US decision that would grant exemptions in the North, without providing Congress with explanations as to why the current exemptions and licensing system could not achieve US goals in the North.
The members stressed that the danger of this approach, as it does not depend on achieving an economic benefit for the Assad regime, but rather sends an implicit message to the Syrians and the region that the current US administration has abandoned its opposition to normalization with the Assad regime.
In November 2021, the US Treasury announced a study to amend the sanctions imposed on the Assad regime, to exclude non-governmental organizations in Syria.
