Japan on Friday decided to impose new sanctions on Syria to step up pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to halt its violent crackdowns on anti-government forces.
The sanctions include an asset freeze on more top members of the Assad administration, and banning Syrian chartered planes from landing in Japan.
The Foreign Ministry said Japan was not expecting any chartered flights from Syria, but it adopted the ban to keep in line with the EU nations and other countries. Japan and Syria are not linked by regular flights.
Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters in Tokyo that he hoped the government's latest decision would contribute to the international efforts to stop the violence in Syria, Japanese media reports said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference that at least 10,000 people have died in the crackdowns by security forces in that Middle East country since a popular uprising against the Assad regime began in March 2011.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.