Syrian Government News

This article will focus on “comprehensive sanctions,” which prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country, with a particular focus on three countries currently targeted by comprehensive sanctions: Iran, Syria and North Korea. Similar jurisdictions which are subject to varying levels of comprehensive sanctions, including Cuba, the Crimea region (Russia/Ukraine) and Venezuela (which may be thought of as subject to “quasi-comprehensive” sanctions) will be dealt with an article later in this series.IranHistory of Iran sanctions: The first U.S.

In May 2020, the US Department of State, US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and US Coast Guard issued a joint Sanctions Advisory for the Maritime Industry. The advisory builds on and expands several prior sanctions advisories for the maritime community issued in 2018-19.The advisory is intended as a guidepost to help participants in the maritime sector achieve the desired level of compliance. Most of the guidance is couched in the language of suggestion (e.g., parties “may wish to consider…”), rather than as a mandate.

Gibraltar acted in good faith when it released the Adrian Darya 1 tanker and Iran broke assurances it had given not to sell the crude oil to Syria, the British territory's maritime minister said on Friday.British commandos on July 4 seized the supertanker, formerly named the Grace 1, on suspicion that it was en route to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions.Gibraltar released it on Aug. 15 after getting written Iranian assurances that it would not discharge its cargo of around 2 million barrels of oil in Syria."We released the vessel in good faith based on assurances given by a sovereign nation," said Gilbert Licudi, minister with…

Syria needs wheat and fuel to alleviate shortages and suffering caused by its civil war and wants to expand trade ties with Russia, the Syrian government told a high-level Russian delegation on Tuesday. An ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia launched air strikes to support his forces against anti-government rebels last September. The conflict, which is in its sixth year, has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and caused food and fuel shortages in many areas. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told the economic and defence delegation to Damascus that Syria needed economic support in the form of wheat and fuel to ease shortages caused by the conflict and to "alleviate Syrians' suffering", state news agency SANA reported.

Syria's state grain buying agency Hoboob struck a deal to purchase one million tonnes of Russian wheat from political ally Russia, covering the needs of government-controlled areas for a year. The Damascus government subsidises bread for the areas it controls ensuring the supply of flat loaves that are a staple for Syrian people. Syria often buys wheat from Russia but this was an unusually large amount for a cheap price. The source said it should cover the government's needs for this year until the next local wheat buying season in 2017. A Syrian government source close to the matter told Reuters Hoboob purchased the wheat at 150 euros ($168) a tonne, on a cost and freight basis, and shipment would be for a year after opening up the letter of credit.

Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba. The move, announced by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov, is further evidence Russia is building up its capabilities in Syria despite a partial drawdown in March and another sign it is digging in for the long haul to help prop up President Bashar al-Assad.

As I write, the M/V  Cape Ray, a 648-foot roll-on/roll-off Ready Reserve Force ship is steaming under orders towards Gioia Tauro, Italy, to load hundreds of tons of Syrian Government chemical weapon agents and precursor chemicals, before neutralizing them at sea. With innovative safe-destruction technology welded to its decks, the  Cape Ray is the United States’ key contribution to the joint Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) / United Nations international effort to eliminate the Syrian stockpile of chemical weapons…

Experts on board a cargo ship transformed into a multimillion dollar chemical weapons destroyer said on Thursday they were ready to start working on Syria's stock of toxic arms in the middle of the Mediterranean as early as May. Now they just have to hope the weather holds and Damascus delivers on time. Former container vessel Cape Ray, docked in southern Spain, has been fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tonnes of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, said officials.

The 'Cape Ray', with the capabiltiy to destroy chemical weapons given up by the Syrian government , is part of the Maritime Administration's Reserve Ready Fleet of cargo ships, and is expected to leave for the Mediterranean in about two weeks reports Reuters, citing officials. Forklifts moved equipment and sparks flew as workers welded containers and other gear on the deck of the MV Cape Ray, which is being  outfitted with modular housing to accommodate three times its normal complement of personnel…

The possibility of Western military action against the Syrian government pushed oil prices to a six-month high and sent equities worldwide substantially lower, reports Reuters. Both Brent and U.S. crude gained upward of $3 a barrel as fears mounted that Western intervention could further destabilize the Middle East, which pumps a third of the world's oil. Citing Western sources who attended a meeting in Istanbul between envoys of an alliance opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian National Coalition, Reuters add that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days. Source: Reuters