Iran Press/Middle East: Asma al-Assad, who was born and grew up in the UK, was designated for the first time by the US government, which described her as “one of Syria’s most notorious war profiteers.”
The first batch of designations targets 39 people or entities with ties to the government, including Assad's sister Bushra, brother and military commander Maher, as well as other members of the extended family, senior military leaders, and business executives.
Many of them were already subject to US sanctions, but the new penalties also target non-Syrians who do business with them in an attempt to discourage foreign investment in the country.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the designations represent the beginning of what will be a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure to deny the Syrian Government revenue and support it uses to what he claimed as "waging war and commit mass atrocities against the Syrian people.”
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