United States sanctions Syria

The White House sanctioned 271 people today linked to the Syrian agency that produces non-conventional weapons. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the sanctions sent a message that the United States would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons “by any actor.” A chemical attack earlier this month killed more than 80 civilians in northern Idlib, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad denied ordering the attack, but President Donald Trump and the United States’ allies have placed the blame squarely on Assad. After the attack, Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian airfield. Due to a Russian veto, the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution condemning the chemical attack, something Trump called “a great disappointment.”