U.S. plans Caesar Act waivers to allow foreign aid and begin sanction wind-down, secretary says

The secretary, a State Department official, told reporters that the administration intends to use waiver authorities in the Caesar Act to permit foreign partners to begin delivering aid to Syria and that preparatory work, including visas for Syrian ministers, has already been done.

Why it matters: The Caesar Act broadly authorized sanctions on Syria; use of waivers would allow international partners to begin reconstruction and aid flows while the sanctions regime remains subject to review.

The secretary said the administration "was on the road" preparing for the move: he noted the Syrian finance minister was provided a visa to travel to Washington two weeks ago and the foreign minister was provided a visa a week ago to travel to New York. He said he was with the president when the decision to begin a wind-down was announced and that officials have been preparing for the waiver process.

The secretary said "the core of these sanctions are statutory under the Caesar Act" and that members of Congress from both parties had urged use of the law's waiver authorities. He added, "These waivers have to be renewed every 80." He said the administration's initial step would be to use a waiver to allow foreign partners to flow aid without triggering U.S. statutory sanctions; if enough progress is made, the administration would consider asking Congress to remove the sanctions permanently.

He cautioned that full removal of sanctions would be premature now and said the next steps would depend on progress on the ground in Syria.