US removes Syria from the arms export ban, sanctions on Damascus eased

The Trump administration is removing Syria from a list of countries not allowed to buy or import American weapons, a step that is part of a month-long process of easing sanctions against the new government in Damascus and its leaders.

In a notice on Wednesday in the Federal Register, the Department of State said it was amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, so that Syria would no longer be among the countries subject to a policy of denial of licences and other approvals needed for the sale of American weapons and munitions.

The change, which takes effect on Thursday, means that requests for arms sales from Syria will now be reviewed case by case.

President Donald Trump acted last year to ease economic sanctions on Syria, which had been in force for decades during the rule of ousted President Bashar Assad. In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio rescinded Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, helping the latest step towards rapprochement with the current government.

The Department of State has also announced plans to reopen the American Embassy in Damascus. It has been closed for 14 years.

With Syria removed from the ITAR blacklist, only seven countries remain subject to the licence-denial policy for American arms exports: Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.

Syria’s interim president, the former rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, overthrew the Assad government almost two years ago and has undertaken a policy of change that has impressed the Trump administration. His moves have led to hopes for eventual stability in a country destroyed by the civil war and the Islamic State insurgency that swept through north-eastern and western Iraq for years.

The withdrawal of American forces from Iraq on Wednesday may mean that the Syrian government plays a greater role in preventing a resurgence of ISIS.