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US House agrees bill to impose sanctions on Assad supporters

May 19, 2017 at 2:54 pm

Image of the US House Speaker Paul Ryan [Gage Skidmore/Flickr]

The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously agreed to pass a bill imposing economic sanctions against the supporters of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his regime.

According to Anadolu, the House of Representatives was able to pass a draft bill, supported by the Republican and Democratic parities to impose sanctions ending on 31 December 2021 against countries and companies that support Al-Assad’s regime financially or which establish business relations with the regime or the Syrian Central Bank.

Read: An untold economic success story in Syria

In order to be enacted, the bill still requires the approval of the Congress before being presented to President Donald Trump for his signature. However, observers do not believe the bill will be opposed.

Paul Ryan, speaker of the US House of Representatives and member of the Republican Party representing Wisconsin, said:

Assad’s crimes against humanity cannot go unanswered. With these new sanctions, we will continue to tighten the screws on the Syrian regime and its most prominent backers, including Iran and Russia.

The law would give Trump the authority to lift sanctions on a case-by-case basis, if a situation requires, such as peace negotiations or a ceasefire.