Syria’s Interim FM Says Russia-Iran Ties to Assad Are an Open Wound After War 

Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani talks to Kuwaiti journalist Ammar Taqi during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP)
Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani talks to Kuwaiti journalist Ammar Taqi during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Syria’s Interim FM Says Russia-Iran Ties to Assad Are an Open Wound After War 

Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani talks to Kuwaiti journalist Ammar Taqi during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP)
Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani talks to Kuwaiti journalist Ammar Taqi during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP)

Syria's relations with Iran and Russia remain an open wound for its people after those nations backed autocratic President Bashar Assad during the long civil war, the country's new, interim foreign minister said Wednesday.

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Asaad al-Shibani acknowledged some “positive” signs from both Moscow and Tehran but did not elaborate.

However, he underlined the new government in Damascus' desire to improve relations with the West and get sanctions on Syria lifted so the country could start rebuilding after the ruinous, 14-year war.

“Syria has recovered its freedom and dignity” after decades of despotism, al-Shibani said. “It's a new period of peace and peace building.”

Among key concerns for al-Shibani are the US and European Union sanctions. Estimates suggest it will cost at least $250 billion rebuild Syria, which has a poverty rate of 90% and a gross domestic product of less than half it was before the war, according to the European Union.

The sanctions were imposed on “the Syrian regime as result of its oppressions,” al-Shibani said. “It’s only natural to lift” them now.

Al-Shibani also claimed Wednesday that the interim government had “ended all security and Captagon-related challenges” that strained ties with neighboring Jordan. Captagon, an amphetamine-like stimulant, had been a main source of revenue for Assad.

But tensions remain with Russia and Iran.

Moscow hopes to maintain its air and sea base in Syria on the Mediterranean Sea. Iran also has used Syria as a transit point to arm Lebanon's Hezbollah party and others in its self-described “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and the United States.

“Syrian people have wounds and pain that they suffered at the hands of these two countries,” al-Shibani said of Russia and Iran.

“In order to restore the relationship, the Syrian people must feel comfortable with this relationship,” he added.



US Imposes Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah

Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
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US Imposes Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil Trade, Hezbollah

Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)
Supporters of Hezbollah carry flags of Hezbollah as they shout slogans during a celebration organized by Hezbollah in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 June 2025. (EPA)

The US imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.

A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said.

"Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The US has imposed waves of sanctions on Iran's oil exports over its nuclear program and funding of militant groups across the Middle East.

Reuters reported late last year that a fuel-oil smuggling network that generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since 2022.

Thursday's sanctions came after the US carried out strikes on June 22 on three Iranian nuclear sites including its most deeply buried enrichment plant, Fordow. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the strikes had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, despite a far more cautious initial assessment that had leaked to the public.

The US and Iran were expected to hold talks about its nuclear program next week in Oslo, Axios reported.

Said’s companies and vessels blend Iranian oil with Iraqi oil, which is then sold to Western buyers via Iraq or the United Arab Emirates as purely Iraqi oil using forged documentation to avoid sanctions, Treasury said.

Said controls UAE-based company VS Tankers though he avoids formal association with it, Treasury said. Formerly known as Al-Iraqia Shipping Services & Oil Trading (AISSOT), VS Tankers has smuggled oil for the benefit of the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organization, it said.

The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.

VS Tankers denied Treasury's assertions and said it will "pursue all legal remedies as necessary." Iran's mission in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US also sanctioned several vessels that are accused of engaging in the covert delivery of Iranian oil, intensifying pressure on Iran’s "shadow fleet," it said.

The Treasury Department also issued sanctions against several senior officials and one entity associated with the Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

The officials, the department said, conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited, but obscured, Hezbollah.