U.S. announces ‘sweeping’ sanctions on Syrian scientists for chemical attack

Following up on a limited U.S. military strike against Syria, the Trump administration on Monday announced new “sweeping” sanctions on the Syrian government agency it blames for producing chemicals used in a deadly attack on Syrian civilians earlier this month.

The announcement names 271 members of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in what the Treasury Department called one of its largest sanctions actions in history.

It said the Syrian agency was responsible for developing and producing “nonconventional weapons and the means to deliver them.”

“These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children,” the department said in a statement.

A senior administration official said the 271 people cited included chemists and other scientists or researchers who have worked for the agency since at least 2012.

The sanctions mean that those individuals named may not have business dealings with U.S. companies or persons, and any assets they might have in the United States would be frozen. The move also complicates travel for some.

Successive U.S. administrations have used economic sanctions to punish alleged wrongdoers, from human rights abusers to drug traffickers, but the success of the measures is spotty. Countries such as North Korea often find ways to circumvent the prohibitions.

Monday’s action came in response to several chemical attacks blamed on Assad’s government, most notably the April 4 massacre of nearly 100 people, including children, in northern Syria. U.S. officials blamed the attack on Assad’s forces, backed by Russia, and said the banned nerve agent sarin was used.

In immediate response, the U.S. military blasted a Syrian military airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles.

The sanctions send the message that “we will hold those responsible accountable,” the senior administration official said, “and will serve as a strong deterrent.”

Officials briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

The administration suspects Assad still has chemical weapons despite a 2015 agreement to get rid of them.

In January, the administration also imposed sanctions on 18 senior Syrian government officials and five branches of the Syrian military in response to Assad’s use of chlorine gas in three attacks in 2014 and 2015.

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