US Imposes Syria-Related Sanctions on Individuals, Entities

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Reuters)
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US Imposes Syria-Related Sanctions on Individuals, Entities

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Reuters)

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on officials, entities and individuals it accused of providing support to Syrian president Bashar Assad as Washington continued to impose sanctions aimed at cutting off funds for Assad’s government.

The action, which also targeted the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, marks another round of sanctions in Washington’s bid to push Assad’s government back to United Nations-led negotiations and broker an end to the country’s nearly decade-long war.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said it slapped sanctions on Syrian military officials, members of the parliament, government of Syria entities, as well as on Syrian and Lebanese people it accused of attempting to revive Syria’s petroleum industry.

“The Treasury Department is determined to continue to apply economic pressure on the Assad regime and its supporters for the repression conducted by the regime,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

This action is the Treasury Department’s fifth round of Syria-related actions since the provisions of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (Caesar Act) came into full effect.

“Today’s action complements the international effort to compel the Assad regime to cease the war it is waging against its own people and reinforces the US government’s continued effort to achieve a peaceful, political resolution of the Syrian conflict in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254,” read a Treasury statement.

Monday’s sanctions targeted Arfada Petroleum Private Joint Stock Company (Arfada) and Sallizar Shipping SAL (Sallizar), two companies based in Syria and Lebanon, respectively, that have entered into substantial contracts with the government of Syria to develop the Syrian oil sector.

It designated Hussam al-Qaterji, a Syrian businessman and 33 percent shareholder of Arfada. Qaterji is known as the godfather of the regime’s oil and wheat trade with ISIS. Beginning in 2014, Qaterji started brokering oil and wheat trade deals between the Assad regime and ISIS. He has been a member of parliament for the government-controlled area of Aleppo since 2016.

The Treasury also designated Kamal al-Madani and Tariq Al-Madani, two of the four founders of Sallizar.

It also targeted General Ghassan Jaoudat Ismail, the head of the designated Syrian Air Force Intelligence (SAFI). Ismail has served as the head of SAFI since 2019, previously serving as the Deputy Director and in charge of SAFI’s mission branch, which manages SAFI’s elite troops in cooperation with the special operations branch, who play a key role in the repression conducted by the Syrian regime.

It designated Brigadier General Nasr Al-Ali, the head of the designated Political Security Directorate (PSD). Al-Ali has served as the head of PSD since July 2019. Prior to being named to this position, Al-Ali headed PSD branches in Aleppo and Daraa.

A crackdown by Assad on protesters in 2011 led to war, with Iran and Russia backing the government and the United States supporting the opposition.

Millions of people have fled Syria and millions more have been internally displaced.

Syria has been under US and European Union sanctions that have frozen the assets of the state and hundreds of companies and individuals. Washington already bans exports to Syria and investment there by Americans, as well as transactions involving oil and hydrocarbon products.



UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Rapporteur Calls for Global Action to Stop ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

 UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following an Emergency Conference of States, hosted by Colombia and South Africa, to discuss measures against Israel in relation to the conflict in Gaza, in Bogota, Colombia, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations’ special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the “genocide” in Gaza.

Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia’s capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel’s military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians.

“Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,” Albanese said. “The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.”

The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.”

Analysts say it’s not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The death toll comes from the health ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

“The United States has so far failed to influence Israel’s behavior ... so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s behavior or on the government of Israel,” said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota’s Los Andes University.

She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard.

The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

For decades, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to “homelands” before ending in 1994.

South Africa’s current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid.

The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Türkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks.

The Colombian official described Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order.

“This is not just about Palestine” Jaramillo said in a press conference. “It is about defending international law... and the right to self-determination.”