The US Department of the Treasury withdrew from the sanctions against Syria for six months any action to provide assistance to the country after the earthquake. This became known from the published on February 9 licenses on the official website of the ministry.
“Today, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury (OFAC) issued to Syria a General License (GL) 23 that authorizes for 180 days all earthquake related transactions that would otherwise be prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Rules (SySR).” , the message says.
At the same time, the document emphasizes that the license does not apply to actions related to the sale of Syrian oil and petroleum products to the United States.
On the same day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that sanctions should not interfere with the provision of humanitarian assistance to people affected by the earthquake in Syria. The day before, the UN coordinator in the country, Mustafa bin al-Malikh, also said that the sanctions imposed against Syria harm humanitarian activities in the country after the earthquake.
On the night of February 6, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 hit Turkey near the city of Gaziantep, located near the Syrian border. In the afternoon, another earthquake of magnitude 7.6 was recorded. The natural disaster also affected neighboring Syria. The death toll from the cataclysm is growing every hour. According to the latest data, 1347 people died as a result of the earthquake in Syria. The number of victims is 2295. The number of victims of earthquakes in Turkey increased to 17,406 people, 71,806 people were affected.
In May 2022, US President Joe Biden extended the unilateral sanctions regime on Syria for another year. According to the White House statement, the actions of the Syrian regime pose a threat “to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”
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