US senator denies sanctions target international aid to northwestern Syria following quakes

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - A US senator on Thursday denied claims that international aid cannot enter northwestern Syria in the wake of Monday's deadly earthquakes due to Western sanctions.

“Rumors that int'l aid cannot get into NW Syria because of Western sanctions are false,” Senator Jim Risch wrote on Twitter.

Syrian leader Bashar “Assad is the sole reason aid cannot get to those who need it most,” he added.

Calling on the UN Security Council to consider proposing a resolution to open more border crossings, he added that humanitarian organizations are “desperately” working in the field.

“It's time Assad & his cowardly backers help by opening additional border crossings for aid,” said the senator, who represents the US state of Idaho.

“Assisting humanitarians in delivering aid to a population already devastated by Assad is critical,” he added.

Stressing that calls for “sanctions relief” are only intended to ”avoid accountability for the (Assad) regime," he said, “Open the other crossings to alleviate conditions at Bab al-Hawa & prevent needless suffering,” referring to the sole border crossing for UN aid into Syria, located in Cilvegozu, Türkiye.

The US eased sanctions Thursday on Syria to allow the flow of humanitarian assistance following the deadly earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye on Monday, which left at least 3,300 dead in Syria and over 19,000 dead in neighboring southern Türkiye.

The US Treasury Department issued a license that authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian sanctions regulations.

''As international allies and humanitarian partners mobilize to help those affected, I want to make very clear that US sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people,'' said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.