WASHINGTON 

A US-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization on Monday welcomed President Donald Trump’s push for removing sanctions on Syria, saying the country must be allowed to rebuild without external obstacles.

“We welcome President Trump’s support for the full removal of Assad-era sanctions on Syria, which must rebuild and recover without foreign roadblocks,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement posted on X. It urged Trump to press for an end to “the Israeli government’s occupation of Syrian land, its lawless attacks on the Syrian people, and its support for separatist militias.”

CAIR also congratulated the Syrian-American community, the Syrian people and the Muslim world on the one-year anniversary of what it called Syria’s “liberation.”

“We thank God for this moment that so many spent decades praying for, and we pray that He comforts the countless families who lost loved ones to the horrors of the Assad regime, including many Syrian-Americans and American Muslims,” the statement added.

CAIR’s comments come as the US Congress moves toward a full repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, according to the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2026.

It follows Trump’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May, where the American leader announced he would lift all sanctions and subsequently issued a series of waivers. The administration has since urged lawmakers to permanently remove the Assad-era sanctions, arguing they obstruct Syria’s post-war recovery.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.