Why did Trump lift sanctions on Syria? Interview with Syrian socialist

Trump has lifted economic sanctions on Syria

Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on Syria in a bid to boost US power in the Middle East.

He is looking to make inroads with the new regime of Ahmed al-Sharra, who came to power after the downfall of the Assad dictatorship last December.

Syrian socialist Ghayath Naisse says the lifting of the sanctions has been “well received” by ordinary Syrians.  

“Life was extremely hard for Syrian people during the civil war—it was the worst humanitarian situation,” he told Socialist Worker.

“For this reason, we are against sanctions by imperialist countries against a weaker country.”

But Ghayath said that al-Sharra’s regime, which is negotiating the lifting of sanctions, should not be trusted. It wants to strengthen its control over Syria and push through economic changes. 

This means mass privatisations and public sector layoffs. Syria’s new economy minister Basil Abdul Hanan said at the beginning of the year that he wants a shift to a “competitive free-market economy”.

As part of that push, the new regime wants to normalise relations with the US. And it has used the same divide and rule tactics as the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad, stoking and perpetrating sectarian violence in March.

Ghayath said, “It is very soft with imperialist and regional powers. It is repressive against its own people—we oppose its politics of persecuting women and minorities and repressing political freedoms.”

Syria was torn apart by imperialist and regional powers during the civil war in the last decade.

Western imperialism and the Gulf states are now trying to support the “rebuilding” of Syria.  

In reality, Ghayath explained, they simply want to increase their regional influence. “Imperialist countries demand stability in Syria,” he said. “But it is their interventions that created permanent conflict in Syria.

He said that the lifting of sanctions is primarily “the demand of two powers, the US and Turkey”.

The Turkish regime, which invaded part of northern Syria during the civil war, backed the overthrow of Assad and has a close relationship with Trump.

Ghayath added, “The imperialist powers’ approach will be to say that aid is available, but under the condition that the new regime responds to their demands.

“They want it to sign the Abraham Accords with Israel and help combating Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran.”

Trump is pushing Syria to join the Abraham Accords. He established the agreement during his first presidency in 2020 to “normalise relations” between Israel and the Arab states, hoping to isolate the Palestinians.

Israel used the Assad regime’s downfall to launch attacks on Syria and extend its control of the Golan Heights, which it grabbed in 1967.

Al-Sharra has been “absolutely silent” over Israel’s constant attacks on Syria to win favour with Western imperialism, says Ghayath.

“The regime of Al-Sharra wants to reintegrate into international capitalism and negotiate with the regional imperialist countries,” he explained.

“He is promoting the free market in Syria, opening up to foreign capital,” he said.

“You want a Trump tower in Damascus, here. You want a military base in Syria, of course. Al-Sharra will give Trump everything, sell parts of Syria to international powers to let them increase their influence in Syria.

Al-Sharra has met a Chinese delegation in the capital Damascus to negotiate new economic links. He has signed a contract with a French company to develop the Port of Latakia, Syria’s main port.

Ghayath said, “After al-Sharra took power, he said, ‘The revolution is finished—now we are creating a new state’.”

But the overthrow of the Assad regime opened up space for workers, the poor and oppressed groups to organise.

The free market drive has already sparked resistance with newly-formed workers’ committees organising protests. And there were significant protests against the sectarian massacres of March in Damascus and in Suwayda.

Ghayath said that, while the imperialist powers and the regime are major actors, “the Syrian people themselves” have agency. He said, “The Assad regime was the origin of the catastrophe in Syria.

“But Syrians will not accept al-Sharra’s repression of political liberties, the condition of women and so on. What we can say for now is that this new regime is weak and is sensitive to people’s mobilisation.

“There will be struggle for more freedoms, more equality, more political participation. And we have to enforce our demands for democracy, political freedoms and the question of Palestine.”

Ghayath said that, after the brutality of Assad, “people are scared, afraid of repression”. “But these social forces still exist.

“We have to mobilise these social forces against the politics of this new regime,” he urged.