UAE

Iran may be putting harsher conditions on its supplies of crude oil to Syria. A recent report has suggested that Tehran has doubled the price at which it sells its oil and that it is now requiring Damascus to pay in cash; these two measures would have a significant fiscal impact on the Syrian government. The reasons behind this policy move are unclear.

Two companies based in the United Arab Emirates have settled with the United States over alleged breaches of multiple sanctions programmes. The actions suggest a growing role of UAE-based companies in helping the Syrian regime and businessmen evade sanctions.

Syria's chambers of industry elections resulted in the replacement of two influential regime-affiliated figures by a lesser-known businessman involved in the government’s rapprochement efforts with Arab countries and the United Arab Emirates in particular. 

Despite severe restrictions to its financial transactions with the outside world, Syria is unlikely to use the Russian alternative to the SWIFT system anytime soon.

A high-ranking Hamas delegation recently visited Damascus in the latest instance of Arab rapprochement with Syria. 

Through the supply of wheat and crude oil, currently the two most coveted commodities in the world, Moscow and Tehran continue to provide economic aid that is key to the survival of the Syrian regime.