US rebuffs call for lifting of Syria sanctions after earthquake  

In a 6 February US State Department press briefing, spokesman Ned Price, asked by a reporter whether it would be appropriate to ‘reach out to’ the Syrian government and lift sanctions against the country to assist earthquake rescue operations, said that it would be ‘quite ironic, if not even counterproductive, for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now – gassing them, slaughtering them, being responsible for much of the suffering that they have endured.’

Price said, ‘Instead, we have humanitarian partners on the ground who can provide the type of assistance in the aftermath of these tragic earthquakes, but these humanitarian partners who have been active on the ground since the earliest days of the civil war.’

Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, 8 February, that ‘In the wake of the catastrophe, the US should put aside geopolitical obsessions and immediately lift the unilateral sanctions on Syria, to unlock the doors for humanitarian aid to Syria.’ Her call has been echoed elsewhere.  

On 6 February, Bassam Sabbagh, Syria’s representative to the United Nations, said that the country was ‘requesting help from UN members and the UN Secretariat…taking consideration that Syria has suffered a lot and the unilateral coercive measures that have been taken by certain countries.’

Sabbagh said, ‘We assure the UN that we are ready to help and coordinate [assistance] for Syrians in all territories [i.e., including non-government held regions].’

But he also intimated that all assistance had to be provided from within Syria, precluding cross-border assistance from Turkey.

In November 2021, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) adopted a final rule ‘amending the Syrian Sanctions Regulations to expand an existing authorization related to certain activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Syria.’

https://media.un.org/en/asset/k16/k1617qgdc4

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/frn_syria_reg_ngo.pdf