Greg Koblentz, member of the Center’s Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Security, co-authored a piece in War on the Rocks about the U.S. sanctions on Syrian chemical weapons scientists being lifted.
On June 30, 2025, as part of the process of normalizing relations with Damascus following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Trump administration overhauled the sanctions imposed on Syria to facilitate the rebuilding of that war-ravaged country. In the course of revising these sanctions, however, 266 employees of the Scientific Studies and Research Center, the heart of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons complex, were removed without explanation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List. This list is a compilation of human rights abusers, proliferators, terrorists, drug lords, and others deemed a threat to U.S. national security. It is literally a list of the worst of the worst.
The 266 chemical weapons scientists, engineers, and technicians had been sanctioned by the first Trump administration in April 2017 in response to Syria’s sarin attack against Khan Sheikhoun, which killed more than 100 civilians. Trump’s treasury secretary at the time said, “The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations in order to deter the spread of these types of barbaric chemical weapons.” While sanctions reform to support the economic reconstruction and political stabilization of Syria is necessary, lifting these specific sanctions poses a proliferation risk, undermines accountability for the Assad regime’s chemical crimes, and weakens the global norm against chemical weapons. Read more
