Top Republican Brian Mast softens stance on Syria embargo after Sharaa meeting

A senior Republican lawmaker who had been one of the most outspoken opponents of lifting US sanctions on Syria says he is now willing to back a full repeal on the embargo, but wants language that would allow penalties to return if Damascus fails to meet certain conditions.

Rep Brian Mast, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Hill on Thursday that he would support removing the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Congress is pushing to finalise the bill this week, with plans for a vote on the sanctions repeal in early December.

President Donald Trump and Syria's transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, have been lobbying heavily for a clean repeal. Trump can currently waive the sanctions only for six months at a time, which he did again during Sharaa's visit to Washington.

Mast said he was in regular contact with the White House and insisted his position would not contradict Trump's. He argued that the repeal should remain intact, but with a political signal that sanctions could return if Syria fails to meet "a number of conditions".

Repeal supporters say any hint of snapback sanctions would discourage investment and undermine Syria's reconstruction efforts. Opponents argue that al-Sharaa, who took power after overthrowing Bashar al-Assad last December, should be required to meet specific commitments on minority protections, counterterrorism and a future settlement with Israel.

Mohammed Alaa Ghanem, political director of the Syrian American Council, said on X that the final repeal language was expected to include non-binding recommendations asking the Syrian government to make progress in several areas.

He added that these expectations were no longer linked to an automatic snapback of sanctions. Instead, Congress would merely express a non-binding opinion that sanctions would return if progress was not made for an entire year, and any actual reimposition would require Congress to pass a new law from scratch.

The shift in Mast's position comes days after he met al-Sharaa in Washington in what was described by US media as a serious and lengthy discussion about Syria's future.

According to accounts shared with US media, Mast pressed al-Sharaa directly on why the two were "no longer enemies". Al-Sharaa reportedly replied that he wants to "break free from the past", fight extremism, and position Syria as a strong ally of the United States. Attendees said Mast listened carefully and took notes throughout the meeting.

The dinner took place on 9 November, one day before al-Sharaa's closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House.

Mast had until recently been one of the most significant obstacles to a full repeal. Reports in US and regional outlets said he had faced pressure from advisers close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who view the Caesar Act as a key tool to limit Syria's regional influence and slow rebuilding efforts.

His position had also put him at odds with some within the Trump administration, including Special Envoy Thomas Barrack, who had been pushing repeal as central to stabilising Syria under al-Sharaa.

Trump has since framed the shift as part of a coordinated regional push to rehabilitate Syria. He said this week that he lifted sanctions at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told him Syria would "not have a chance" without full economic relief.

Supporters of repeal argue that keeping the Caesar Act in place would scare away US companies and deter allies from investing in Syria out of concern that sanctions could return without warning.

Activists have also warned that the law has made it harder to determine the fate of Americans who disappeared during the Assad era.