The US foreign policy approach to Damascus under the Trump administration is one that views Syria through a purely geopolitical lens—not a humanitarian one. However, within this narrow approach lies two divided camps.
The first wants nothing to do with the new interim government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, which it views as associated with terrorist and jihadist entities. But a second camp believes engagement with al-Sharaa’s government should be conditional and that Syria must meet an extensive list of demands before the US considers lifting sanctions and repealing the Caesar Act.
The actual ask
But behind these demands—which include calls for an inclusive government, a pluralistic constitution, and a national army free from foreign fighters—lies the actual ask: Washington wants a government pliant to Israeli and American interests. This real goal was revealed last week at a donors’ conference in Brussels when a list of even more specific American criteria was handed to the Syrian foreign ministry.
These demands included the new government granting access to WMD and chemical weapons facilities; its full cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) to prevent its resurgence; appointing a dedicated team to address the issue of missing Americans, including the fate of journalist Austin Tice; officially designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation; securing the Syrian-Lebanese border’; and “encouraging” Lebanon to pursue a peace agreement with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords.
Expanding the Abraham Accords is a critical component of the Trump II Strategy for a “new Middle East”, and a neutralised Iran is crucial to this plan. To this end, the US president has sent a direct message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, issuing a 60-day ultimatum to reach an agreement to abandon the country's military nuclear programme and change its regional conduct or face joint US-Israel military action aimed at destroying its nuclear capabilities.
