Jordan hopes US will exempt it from sanctions over Syria energy deal

Jordan has expressed its hope that its involvement in an energy deal with Syria will be approved by the United States, in an effort to avoid sanctions imposed on those cooperating with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

Following the US-backed negotiations last year, an agreement was signed in January allowing Egyptian natural gas to be shipped to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria, in order to help relieve the Lebanese energy crisis and severe shortages in electricity and fuel.

There were concerns, however, that Beirut and Amman would be subjected to the harsh sanctions imposed by the US – under its Caesar Act – on the Syrian regime and any nation, company or individual who assists or deals with it.

Washington has reportedly exempted Lebanon from the sanctions, though, due to the severity of the crises it is undergoing. That came only months after Beirut requested the White House to exempt it from the measures for the import and export of goods from and to Syria. Now, Jordan is seeking similar guarantees from the US.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, Jordanian Energy Minister, Saleh Kharabsheh, told it that the final details of the agreement are coming into place as “We are waiting for the World Bank to complete its financing operations with Lebanon”. Approval from Washington will be the last vital step, saying that “Once they get the final clearance from the US side, we are ready to start transmitting the electricity.”

That sentiment was echoed by the former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Jordan, Jawad Al-Anani, who confirmed to the paper that it was crucial that Washington approved the deal. “We can see eye-to-eye with the United States on some of [Syria’s] human rights violations, but what else can we do?” he said. “This war has been raging inside Syria for the last 10 years, and the country that has suffered the most is Jordan”.

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There has been resistance to the deal from some US senators, however, with Senator Jim Risch – ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – and Representative, Michael McCaul – ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee – sending a letter to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on 1 February expressing “serious concern” that it would result in “a blueprint for circumventing Caesar sanctions in the future”.

Concerns have also been expressed over Russia’s role in the transit of energy through Syria in cooperation with the Assad regime, with the Russian company, Stroytransgaz, being contracted to work on the Syrian segment of the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP) under the deal to transport Egyptian gas to Lebanon.

Approval of such cooperation with Assad and Russia from surrounding states in the region, especially amid international condemnation against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has revived fears amongst elements in the US and Western nations that it will further enable normalisation with the regime and its ally.