U.S. Congress moves to repeal two Syria sanctions laws

A new  bill to repeal the 2003 "Syria Accountability" and 2012 "Syria Accountability for Human Rights Violations" was unveiled in Washington as part of the lifting of sanctions imposed on Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

The head of political affairs at the Syrian-American Council, Mohammed Alaa Ghanem, explained that the bill is sponsored  by lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties and will be presented to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week

Ghanem explained that the two laws still have their legal effects despite the suspension of their effects during the past period thanks to the exemptions and licenses obtained by Syria, revealing that there is a prior agreement on its approval within the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and pushing it to the subsequent legislative stages in preparation for its submission to Congress.

Ghanem added that the repeal of the two laws was sought "in anticipation of any future change in the political climate in Washington," considering that the final repeal constitutes a legal guarantee that prevents the reactivation of the restrictions contained in them in the future.

A Radical Shift in Syrian-American Relations

Syrian-American relations have entered a whole new phase following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, as Washington and Damascus began an unprecedented normalization process based on security and economic cooperation and the lifting of sanctions, after decades of estrangement and tension.

The period between 2025 and 2026 witnessed a series of political and diplomatic steps that reshaped the relationship between the two countries. On May 14, 2025, the first direct meeting between President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump was held in Riyadh, in an official US recognition of the new Syrian leadership and the beginning of the normalization process.

This path was strengthened with the White House summit on November 10, 2025, where Trump received President Al-Sharia in a historic visit that is the first by a Syrian president in decades, and during the summit, Trump announced his support for Al-Sharia, while Syria officially joined as the 90th member of the international coalition to defeat the Islamic State.

What is the Syria Accountability Law?

The Syria Accountability Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2003, is one of the most prominent legal frameworks on which U.S. sanctions on Damascus have been based over the past two decades.

The law included a range of punitive measures that included restrictions on US exports to Syria, especially dual-use civilian and military items, restrictions on US companies wishing to operate inside the country, and freezing Syrian assets in the United States.

It also granted the administration powers to downgrade diplomatic relations and restrict the movement of Syrian diplomats within the United States, and although  large portions of these measures were later suspended or overridden through presidential exemptions and special licenses, the law itself remained legislatively effective.

Penal Code  2012

 The  2012 Law on "Holding Syria Accountable for its Human Rights Violations" came in the context of the escalation of popular protests in Syria and the accompanying repression, arrests, and widespread violations.

The law gave the U.S. president additional powers to impose sanctions on Syrian officials accused of human rights abuses, and targeted entities and companies that provide surveillance and espionage systems to the Syrian authorities.

It also included measures to restrict dealing with the Central Bank of Syria and to impose restrictions on Syria's oil sector and associated revenues, with the aim of limiting the financial resources used by the authorities at the time.

In contrast, the law contained provisions supporting Syrian civil society, opposition institutions, and independent media, Ghanem explained in his previous publication.