By Kinan Saddekni, Founder & CEO · Updated July 2026
I'm a Syrian-American, born and raised in Damascus. I've lived or worked in more than twenty countries and forty-five U.S. states, and I spent thirty years building enterprise software in America while Syria was, for most American companies, a place you simply did not go. That has changed, and faster than most people realize. The executive order ending the comprehensive sanctions program came in June 2025. At the end of last year Congress repealed the Caesar Act, and with it the threat of secondary sanctions that had kept even European and Gulf companies at the door. And on July 8, Washington formally began removing the last major barrier — the state sponsor of terrorism designation, which comes off in late August unless Congress blocks it. Nobody expects Congress to block it.
So the legal door is open. Why isn't everyone walking through it?
Because the plumbing hasn't caught up with the law. Syria is still on the FATF grey list. Correspondent banking is returning slowly, which means a perfectly legal payment can still take weeks to clear, if your bank agrees to send it at all. The currency moves. Targeted sanctions still apply to specific people and networks, so you need to know exactly who you're dealing with. None of this is a reason to stay out. It's a reason to enter carefully.
The mistake I see most often is treating Syria as a yes-or-no question. Boards debate whether to enter when they should be debating how much exposure to take, and in what order. Buying equity or building fixed assets on day one puts capital inside a system that can't fully support it yet. A service contract, a licensing deal, a representative office, a defined role in a Gulf-led consortium — these get you into the market, earning and learning, while the risk in front of you retires. Then you take the next step.
Do the compliance work before the deal, not after. Counsel before the term sheet. Screening as routine, not a box to check at the end. Above all, map how the money will actually move before you sign anything that depends on it moving. I've yet to see a Syria opportunity die because it was illegal. They die because a payment couldn't find a path.
The World Bank puts reconstruction above two hundred billion dollars. Gulf money is already on the ground — ports, power, telecom. American companies have real advantages here, and for once Washington is telling them to use them. What most are missing isn't courage or capital. It's somebody on the ground who speaks both languages, Arabic and compliance, and can tell them which partner is real, which official actually moves a file, and when careful becomes too slow.
That's the work I do. If Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, or Iraq is on your map, I'm easy to find.
Sanctions status is moving quickly — confirm the current posture with qualified counsel before you act.
