Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Friday that the Trump administration is readying new sanctions on Syria to further punish the Assad regime for carrying out a chemical attack against its own civilians.
Mnuchin told reporters the sanctions are part of an effort to stop Syrian President Bashar Assad from continuing “this sort of activity.” The announcement came less than 24 hours after President Trump authorized a series of cruise missile strikes against a Syrian government air base.
“Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed, and failed very dramatically,” the president had said in an address to nation late Thursday. “Tonight, I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking an end to the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.”
Mnuchin declined to disclose details about the new sanctions, saying only that they are “coming in the near future.”
