UK lifts sanctions on Syrian ministries following Assad’s fall
Syrian flag and the Great Britain flag are waving in the sky, accessed on April 24, 2025. (Adobe Stock Photo)
The British government announced Thursday it has removed sanctions against Syria’s interior and defense ministries that were imposed during Bashar al-Assad’s rule, which ended last December.
“The following entries have been removed from the Consolidated List and are no longer subject to an asset freeze — Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence,” the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a notice.
The UK also lifted sanctions on various Syrian media groups and intelligence agencies, though Syria’s new government had already dissolved the Assad-era spy organizations in January.
According to the British notice, the entities that had been targeted by sanctions were “involved in repressing the civilian population in Syria” or had been “involved in supporting or benefitting from the Syrian regime.”
The move comes as Syria’s new leadership works to distance itself from its revolutionary origins. The government that took power after Assad’s fall following his 24-year rule is attempting to convince Western nations that its jihadist roots are in the past and that the international community should lift the crippling sanctions that have hampered Syria’s economy.
Assad was toppled in December by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army forces after nearly two and a half decades in power. The lifting of these specific sanctions represents one of the first significant diplomatic shifts in Western policy toward post-Assad Syria.
