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New sanctions slapped on Syria target its allies, Persian Gulf states — diplomat

On June 3, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the sanction package that comes into effect on June 17

Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad Alexei Cherenkov/TASS

Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad

© Alexei Cherenkov/TASS

MOSCOW, June 8./TASS/. A new package of sanctions slapped on Syria under the so-called Caesar Act is also targeting the country's allies and countries of the Persian Gulf, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad told TASS on Monday.

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Syrian diplomat slams US sanctions hindering medicine supplies as medical terrorism

"These sanctions are not only targeting Syria, they are directly or indirectly jeopardizing all its allies and are also aimed against Persian Gulf countries, so that none of these countries dares to invest in Syria," the ambassador said. "And each party that will say it wants to invest, must get permission from the US," the diplomat stressed.

On June 3, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the sanction package that comes into effect on June 17. Its statement said that the document "is based on false evidence, trumped up by hostile to the Syrian people parties."

Presently, unilateral Western European sanctions prevent supplies of medical aid to Syria to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the diplomat stressed. He emphasized that despite international requests to lift unilateral sanctions from Syria to help it fight the pandemic, the US and Western nations "once again acted against the Syrian people, enacting the US Caesar Act bill in addition to the economic blockade and terror."

"The US law imposes new sanctions against any individual or party that cooperate with the Syrian government or offer financing to it in any sector. Thus, the US undermines three economic sectors, threatening with sanctions, namely foreign trade, local and joint investment supporting the Syrian government, and the financing sector — loans, money transfers," Riyad Haddad pointed out.

This law secures "a tendency towards separatism, since it excludes the areas under the control of Kurdish self-administration, to which it does not apply," the diplomat stressed.

Focusing on the situation with the novel coronavirus, the ambassador said that the number of infections is not exceeding 400 as of now. All necessary measures are taken, the self-isolation mode imposed by the Syrian Ministry of Healthcare remains in place, he added. The diplomat also stressed that Syria had received aid from Russia for the battle against COVID-19.

The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act

The Caesar Act is named after a Syrian individual known as Caesar, who fled the country in 2013 and allegedly handed over to Western human rights agencies images showing violence against inmates in Syrian prisons. This document was approved by President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019 and envisages sanctions against the main sectors of the Syrian economy, the Syrian Central Bank, top-ranking officials, including the president, as well as any private or state organization, both Syrian and foreign, that cooperates with the government in Damascus. The sanctions come into effect on June 17.

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