International sanctions against Syria were a series of economic sanctions and restrictions imposed on Syria under Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship from 2011 onwards by the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and the Arab League, mainly as a result of the repression of civilians in the Syrian civil war. The US sanctions against Syria were the most severe, as they affected third-parties as well, and amounted to an embargo. U.S. secondary sanctions were limited until 2020 when the Caesar Act entered into force. The intent was to prevent the Syrian government from employing violence against its citizens and to motivate political reforms that could solve the root causes of the conflict. In May 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and the European Union ordered the lifting of sanctions on Syria following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
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👉 Sanctions against Syria in the context of American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
On 22 September 2014, the United States officially intervened in the Syrian civil war with the stated aim of fighting the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS) militant organization in support of the international war against it, code named Operation Inherent Resolve. The US currently continues to support the Syrian Armed Forces under the transitional government and the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Shortly after the start of the civil war in 2011, the Obama administration placed sanctions against Syria and supported the Free Syrian Army rebel faction by covertly authorizing Timber Sycamore under which the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) armed and trained rebels. Following the Islamic State's occupation of Eastern Syria in August 2014, the United States conducted surveillance flights in Syria to gather intelligence regarding the Islamic State. In September 2014, the United States-led coalition—which involves the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and others—launched an air campaign against the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front inside Syria.