Effective today, Canada has taken additional steps to impose economic sanctions against Syria by imposing a ban on financial services and targeting transactions involving the Central Bank of Syria as well as additional listed individuals.

In December 2024, Bashar al-Assad's regime was ousted from Syria. On May 13, 2025, President Trump announced that he was "ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start."

A recent Israeli airstrike on a Syrian airbase near Aleppo has exposed deepening tensions between Israel and Türkiye over Syria's future, placing the United States in an uncomfortable position between two key allies. The incident reveals competing visions for Syria's role in the region and raises questions about whether diplomatic mechanisms can prevent further escalation in a country that has become central to multiple pipeline projects and $56 billion in foreign investment.

Over the last two months, fallout from the Iran war has roiled every country in the Middle East. Syria, once a hotspot of regional conflict itself, has kept a remarkably low profile. Weathering the economic...