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Far Too Early to Lift US Sanctions on Syria, Lawmakers Say

Rebel fighters holds weapons at the Citadel of Aleppo, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

Republican and Democratic US senators say it is too soon to consider lifting sanctions on Syria following the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, an indication that Washington is unlikely to change its policy any time soon.

“We’re all really happy that Assad is gone,” Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Reuters. “We worked at it for a long, long time, and the job is done. The problem is, what comes next?”

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al Qaeda affiliate that stormed across Syria and ousted Assad last week, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and most other countries, and also sanctioned by the United Nations.

“So, given that, it certainly calls for considerable pause, to watch and see what happens,” he said, noting that while rebel leaders were making encouraging statements about unity and human rights, it remains to be seen how they act.

Risch will chair the foreign relations panel, which oversees US diplomacy, starting in January when President-elect Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans take control of the Senate.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said the United States should not be involved in the Syrian conflict.

Advocates say issuing waivers and licenses would encourage economic development and foreign investment, providing the rebels’ new government with funding desperately needed to rebuild and establish government institutions.

FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

But opponents say the risk is too high until they are sure the rebels allow human rights, such as freedom of expression and religion, and do not attack members of minority groups.

Senior Democrats also called for caution.

“It’s too early to tell whether the incoming regime’s record will reflect a different way of doing business,” Senator Ben Cardin, the current committee chairman, told a news conference.

And Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate’s Middle East subcommittee, also said it was too soon to lift sanctions, given the rebels’ history of terrorist ties, but stressed the importance of communicating with the new authorities in Syria at a time when world powers are jockeying for influence there.

“I do not think the United States should lock ourselves out of a room that everyone else is in,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview, especially given the billions of dollars in assets and US troop deployment in and around Syria.

“I don’t think we should be shy about opening lines of communications,” Murphy said.

Sanctions affect material support for Syria, but do not bar communications with its government.

There have been a few calls in Congress to ease sanctions, but the overwhelming sentiment is against doing so.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which included an extension until 2029 of the “Caesar sanctions,” which apply to business in Syria and any national dealing with Syria or Russian and Iranian entities in Syria.

The NDAA is expected to pass the Senate next week, sending it to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.

The post Far Too Early to Lift US Sanctions on Syria, Lawmakers Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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