Assad, business owners have been waiting for Washington to ease sanctions and pave the way for an economic renewal.

“All areas of life for Syrians were impacted by the sanctions,” Benjamin Feve, an expert on Syria’s political economy, told MEE. Feve, a senior research analyst at Karam Shaar Advisory, said that contrary to what is often reported, it was not the sanctions themselves that destroyed Syria’s economy.

Turkish companies and banks will benefit from a lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, Onur Genc, chief executive officer of financial group BBVA said on Wednesday.

Trump said on Tuesday that he would order the lifting of all sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, in a major U.S. policy shift that took some in his ow