State Department: lifting Syria sanctions ordered by president, implementation involves Treasury and will take time

The State Department said Tuesday that President Trump ordered a reversal of U.S. sanctions on Syria and that implementing that decision is an interagency process that involves departments such as the Treasury Department.

"I was in Riyadh and in the building when president, Trump, announced that he was lifting the sanctions on Syria," the spokesperson said, describing the president's directive as the initiating action. The spokesperson added that a team immediately began work and that sanctions are administered through separate departments, including Treasury, which must carry out regulatory and licensing steps.

When asked for a timeline, the spokesperson declined to give a specific date but said the administration intended to move "quickly," noting that the process requires coordination across agencies and that implementation would take some time.

No specific changes to sanctions lists, licenses or targeted measures were announced at the briefing. The Department said it would work through the statutory and regulatory mechanisms used to administer sanctions and that further procedural steps were underway.