The US has ended the policy of a comprehensive ban on the export of US arms, equipment and defense services to Syria, after an amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) came into force, which allows Washington to consider requests for trade and security cooperation with Damascus separately.

The US State Department explained in a decision published in the Federal Register that it removed Syria from the list of countries for which Washington has a policy of denying licenses for the export and import of weapons, defense equipment and services. The ministry stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved a new policy on August 19 that allows for the review of transfers of defense materials and services to and from Syria on a case-by-case basis.

The amendment does not grant Syria automatic approval to purchase American weapons, but rather cancels the comprehensive and early rejection of license applications, and allows the American authorities to examine each application separately before making a decision to approve or reject it in accordance with the applicable laws and controls.

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