Iran

An affiliate of the Bemo banking group is providing microfinance loans to members of a charity linked to a militia that fought during the war and to various Iranian political figures. The charity is based in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab. Another company involved in this project is the local agent of Western Union. The move carries serious risks to the group’s reputation.

Syria’s Katerji brothers have been blacklisted by six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – in the first such known act against prominent regime-affiliated businessmen by countries of the region.

The Damascus International Airport has suspended its operations after it was heavily attacked by Israeli missiles last week.

Although the Jordan government has implicated Iran-backed militias, as well as Syrian military groups, in rising cross-border drug trafficking to Jordan, bilateral trade between Jordan and Syria has increased.

A French appeals court recently ruled against cement giant Lafarge in the latest setback for the multinational company during a five-year legal battle over its past activities in Syria.

The government has increased unsubsidised oil prices, attributing the hike to “rising global oil prices” and to its effort “to narrow the wide gap with black market prices.” Damascus has also announced a new Iranian credit line for the purchase of oil supplies from Tehran.