U.S. hits Syria with toughest sanctions yet to push Assad to end war

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a poster depicting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday imposed its most sweeping sanctions ever targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to United Nations-led negotiations and broker an end to the country's nearly decade-long war.

The toughest round of sanctions on Syria which Washington said were the first taste of a deeper and broader pressure campaign against Assad come at a time when the Syrian leader is grappling with a deepening economic crisis after a decade of war and amid a rare outbreak of protests in government-held areas.