Trump Seeking to Suffocate Syrian People with Sanctions: FM
New US sanctions that took effect in June under the so-called Caesar Act have further crippled the war-torn country's already crumbling economy by prohibiting foreign companies trading with Damascus.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly via a pre-recorded video on Saturday, Syria's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Walid Al-Moualem likened the effect of the sanctions to the death of Floyd, a Black American who died in May after a white police officer knelt on his neck, Reuters reported.
"The real purpose of the Act is to put pressure on Syrians, their livelihoods, and their daily lives. It is an inhumane attempt to suffocate Syrians, just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United States," Al-Moualem said.
The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In June, Russia also made a veiled reference to Floyd's death, which sparked protests across the United States and around the world, when it slammed US policy toward Iran as like "putting a knee" to the country's neck.
