US sanctions Syria for chemical weapons use

The United States has imposed sanctions on Syria.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin took the stage during the daily White House press briefing and delivered the following announcement:

“The United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control imposed sanctions in response to the April 4, 2017 sarin attack on innocent civilians by the regime of Syrian dictator Assad.

“The sanctions target 271 employees of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center,  the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and means to deliver them,” he said.

Mnuchin was specific about the point behind the sanctions, “The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons by any actor and we intend to hold the Assad regime accountable for its unacceptable behavior.”

There was no information about the specifics of the sanctions. Mnuchin did say that Treasury along with the Department of State and its international partners would relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of any individuals involved with Syria’s production of chemical weapons.