The US government put 271 Syrian chemists and other officials on its financial blacklist Monday, punishing them for their presumed role in the deadly chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in early April.

In one of its largest-ever sanctions announcements, the Treasury Department took aim at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), which it said was responsible for developing the alleged sarin gas weapon used in the April 4 attack.

The attack left 87 dead, including many children, in the town of Khan Sheikhun, provoking outrage in the West, which accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible.

The sanctions will freeze all assets in the United States belonging to the 271 individuals on the blacklist, and block any American person or business from dealing with them.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, the SSRC is Syria’s leading scientific research centre, with close links to the country’s military. </s> U.S. Announces Sanctions On 271 Syrians Over April 4 Chemical Attack

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions on 271 individuals, who it says are scientists working on weapons development for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The new sanctions are a response to the deadly April 4 chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, an attack the U.S. government accuses Assad of carrying out against civilians.

"Employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center [or SSRC] have been put on a U.S. blacklist," NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, "which means any assets they might have in the U.S. will be frozen and Americans are barred from doing any business with them."

In a statement, the Treasury Department called the spate of sanctions one of the largest the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has ever imposed.

The department says in a statement that the SSRC is "responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them."

"These 271 SSRC employees have expertise in chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC's chemical weapons program since at least 2012," the Treasury Department alleges.

Earlier this year the OFAC sanctioned eight regime officials, as well as several organizations, over chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015.

Reuters has more on the sanctions:

"Those designated were 'highly educated' individuals likely to be able to travel outside of Syria and use the international financial system even if they may not have assets abroad, administration officials said during a conference call with reporters. ... "President George W. Bush first placed sanctions against the SSRC in 2005, accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction. "Although the Syrian government promotes the SSRC as a civilian research center, 'its activities focus substantively on the development of biological and chemical weapons,' U.S. officials said."

Assad has denied responsibility for the attack on Khan Shaykhun, and even suggested that the attack — documented on video and described by international aid groups who treated victims — was entirely a "fabrication." </s> The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 Syrian chemists and employees of a government research centre as punishment for the country’s alleged role in the recent chemical attack that killed nearly 100 civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province. Inclusion in the financial blacklist will mean that the assets belonging to these individuals in the US will be frozen and people and businesses in the country will be barred from dealing with them, AFP reported.

The US Treasury Department blamed the government-run Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre for developing the sarin gas weapon believed to have been used in the chemical attack. According to Washington-based think tank Nuclear Threat Initiative, SSRC has direct links to the Syrian military. These 271 individuals either have scientific expertise for the programme or have been involved in it since 2012.

“These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

This is one of the largest such penalties imposed at one go in US history, according to AP. However, this is not the first time that the US has issued sanctions against SSRC. In 2005 and 2007, the research centre faced sanctions for its alleged role in developing weapons of mass destruction.

The sanctions are the latest action taken by the Donald Trump administration in response to the April 4 chemical attack. On April 7, the US military had carried out targeted missile strikes on a Syrian base. The Syrian Army had said the strike had killed six troops and caused “big material losses”. Hours before launching the missile strike, US President Donald Trump had said that the poison gas attack had “crossed a lot of lines” for him. </s> WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center are experts in chemistry and related fields, or have worked in support of the center's "chemical weapons program" since at least 2012, or both.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Joel Schectman; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) </s> The US government put 271 Syrian chemists and other officials on its financial blacklist Monday, punishing them for their presumed role in the deadly chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in early April.

In one of its largest-ever sanctions announcements, the Treasury Department took aim at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), which it said was responsible for developing the alleged sarin gas weapon used in the April 4 attack.

The attack left 87 dead, including many children, in the town of Khan Sheikhun, provoking outrage in the West, which accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible.

The sanctions will freeze all assets in the United States belonging to the 271 individuals on the blacklist, and block any American person or business from dealing with them.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, the SSRC is Syria's leading scientific reasearch center, with close links to the country's military.

The center was the subject of two earlier sanctions declarations, in 2005 and 2007, due to its alleged role in developing weapons of mass destruction.

The Treasury asserted in a statement Monday that the SSRC is behind the Syrian government's efforts to develop chemical weapons and the means to deliver them.

The 271 either have scientific expertise for the program or have been involved in it since 2012, the statement said.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

"These sanctions are intended to hold the Assad regime and those who support it -- directly or indirectly -- accountable for the regime's blatant violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118," he said.

Assad has said the attack was a "fabrication" by the West.

But the US military quickly responded on April 7, firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield to punish the government and send a warning against any further chemical weapons attacks.

An effort at the United Nations to add pressure on Damascus failed, however, when Assad's close ally Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution on April 12 demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation of the attack.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson welcomed the US sanctions, saying they send a warning to those who would use chemical weapons.

"The abhorrent attack on Khan Sheikhun is a stark reminder that the international community must work together to deter the future use of chemical weapons in any circumstances," he said in a statement.

"We will continue our efforts to hold accountable those responsible for chemical attacks, including through the UN and EU, and to energize international support for the UN-led political process," he said.

"Only a political settlement will bring an end to the war in Syria." </s> The United States has sanctioned 271 Syrian government employees in response to Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

The move marks one of the largest sanction actions in US history and means American companies are banned from doing business with any of the workers.

The US is responding after least 80 people, including children, were killed in a rebel-held town in northern Syria on 4 April.

Nato have accused the Syrian President of gassing his own people in the attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

The British government said earlier this month that tests in the UK confirmed that sarin or a "sarin like substance" had been used in the suspected gas explosion.

The sanctions have been placed on employees at Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons. </s> The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 271 employees of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency that Washington says develops chemical weapons for the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Treasury said in a statement.

Some of the people blacklisted had worked on Syria’s chemical weapons program for more than five years, the Treasury Department said. The sanction orders U.S. banks to freeze the assets of any employees named, and bans American companies from conducting business with them.

Those designated were “highly educated” individuals likely to be able to travel outside of Syria and use the international financial system even if they may not have assets abroad, administration officials said during a conference call with reporters.

“These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

U.S. authorities, he said, would “relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities.”

The sanctions listings are the latest action taken by the Trump Administration in response to the April 4 chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that U.S. authorities say killed nearly 90 people, including children. The United States says Assad’s forces carried out the attack, while Assad has said the attack is a fabrication.

Earlier this month, the United States launched dozens of missiles against a Syrian air base the Pentagon says was used to launch the chemical attack.

President George W. Bush first placed sanctions against the SSRC in 2005, accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction.

Although the Syrian government promotes the SSRC as a civilian research center, “its activities focus substantively on the development of biological and chemical weapons,” U.S. officials said.

During the Obama administration, the United States in July 2016 sanctioned people and companies for supporting the SSRC, and on Jan. 12, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned six SSRC officials it said were linked to SSRC branches affiliated with chemical weapons logistics or research. </s> The United States has issued 271 sanctions in response to Syrian president Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

It is one of the largest sanction actions in US history.

The government said on Monday that it issued sanctions against 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.

The action was announced in a statement by the Treasury Department, and Treasury Security Steve Mnuchin simultaneously briefed reporters at the White House.

The new sanctions are the latest US response to Mr Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons, most recently in rebel-held northern Idlib, in an attack that killed more than 80 civilians.

The US retaliated earlier this month by launching missiles against a Syrian airfield. </s> The U.S. government on April 24 announced the imposition of "sweeping sanctions" against Syrian government officials in response to what Washington says was a sarin gas attack against Syrian civilians by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in early April.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it ordered a freeze on all assets in the United States belonging to 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).

The sanctions also make it illegal for any American person or business to deal with those 271 individuals.

A Treasury Department statement said the SSRC was responsible for producing the chemical weapons that Washington thinks were used in the April 4 attack.

The suspected chemical attack killed 87 people, including many children, in opposition-held territory in Idlib Province.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: "These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children."

He said the sanctions are a "strong message" that Washington will "hold the entire Assad regime accountable."

The United States fired 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield on April 7 in response to the suspected chemical weapons attack.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP </s> North Korean shipments of chemical weapons bound for Syria were intercepted just months after the regime of Bashar Al-Assad killed at least 90 people in a sarin gas attack, a confidential U.N. report has outlined.

The report, by a panel of U.N. experts into sanctions violations by North Korea and intended only to be seen by the Security Council, details how a dummy corporation, a front for North Korea’s arms dealing ventures, attempted to send two shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country's chemical weapons program.

Read more: Assad regime still making chemical weapons in Syria

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It gives no details into where the vessels were stopped or what they contained. However the activities under investigation between the two pariah nations have included Scud missile programs which can be armed with chemical payloads, as well as surface to air missile defence systems, Reuters reported.

The two shipments were intercepted in the last six months, a period which overlaps with an April 4 chemical weapons attack in Syria in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. The nerve agent sarin gas was found by independent investigators to have been used in the northwestern Syrian town.

The U.S. and its allies have said they have no doubt the Assad regime was responsible for the attack, which precipitated retaliatory cruise missile strikes by the United States against Syrian military targets.

The shipments were exported by Pyongyang's Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KMOID), which was blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council in 2009. It has been described as Pyongyang's key arms dealer, exporting both ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. In March 2016 the council also blacklisted two KOMID representatives in Syria.

The consignments were destined for Syrian shell companies designated by the U.S. as fronts for Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), which has overseen Syria’s expansive chemical weapons program since the 1970s.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Sanctions have been increased following five nuclear weapons tests and four long-range missile launches.

Syria had agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States but reports have claimed that the Assad regime is in violation of the U.N. backed deal, continuing to manufacture chemical weapons at a site near the Syrian capital Damascus and in regime-held Hama province.
The United States imposes sanctions on 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center for their alleged role in developing weapons used in the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.