Trump sanctions Syrian president’s wife, family over ongoing civil war

The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Asma Assad, the wife of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and members of her immediate family for harming efforts to reach a political solution in the nearly decade-long civil war. 

Additionally, sanctions were levied against the Central Bank of Syria; a top adviser to Asma Assad, Lina Kinayeh; her husband Mohammed Masouti; a Syrian member of parliament and several businesses that the administration says are associated with the Assad government. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions mark the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at laying out a political solution to end the conflict in Syria. 

The nearly 10-year civil war has displaced millions of Syrians and counted hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. 

“The United States and the vast majority of the international community remain committed to this dignified plan for ending the suffering of the Syrian people,” Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday.

“The Assad regime, supported by its enablers and allies, however, refuses to end its needless, brutal war against the Syrian people, stalling efforts to reach a political resolution,” he said.

The move marks the second round of sanctions targeting the Syrian president’s wife, who was blacklisted in June along with her husband, for their alleged role in mass atrocities toward the Syrian people amid the brutal civil war. 

“Asma al-Assad has spearheaded efforts on behalf of the regime to consolidate economic and political power, including by using her so-called charities and civil society organizations,” Pompeo said. 

The secretary further said that Asma Assad and her family “have accumulated their ill-gotten riches at the expense of the Syrian people through their control over an extensive, illicit network with links in Europe, the Gulf, and elsewhere.”

The sanctions prohibit the entry to the U.S., imposes a freeze on any assets they hold in the U.S. and prohibits American companies from engaging in any transactions with the blacklisted individuals.

Non-U.S. persons that engage in certain transactions with designated-persons and entities also run the risk of violating sanctions, the Treasury Department said.