MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian President Bashar Assad warned on Tuesday that economic sanctions against the country did more damage than jihadists.
"The current security situation and terrorist crimes are probably not so dangerous as the unjust economic embargo imposed on Syria," Assad’s office quoted him on Twitter as saying.
Syria has been subject to US economic sanctions for decades on allegations that it sponsored terrorism, although Washington scaled them down after the 2011 uprising against Assad to allow support to rebel groups.
Washington keeps restrictions in place for US investment into Syria and has frozen the Syrian government's property in the United States. It has also taken steps to isolate Syrian business internationally and prevent it from selling crude oil abroad.
