US draft bill targets Lebanon gas plan as part of new anti-Assad sanctions: Draft US legislation aimed at preventing countries from normalizing ties with the Syrian government would make it harder for Egypt to export natural gas to Lebanon under a plan agreed in 2021. Introduced by bi-partisan lawmakers last week, the bill (pdf)would enable the US government to impose sanctions on Egypt should it go through with the plan, which involves using a pipeline to ship gas through Syria to Lebanon to ease the country’s chronic energy shortages.

The plan: Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan agreed two years ago to bring online the Arab Gas Pipeline that links the four countries to ship Egyptian gas to Lebanon. In order to avoid existing US rules blocking countries doing business with Syria, Damascus would not receive a financial payout but would be entitled to use a portion of the gas that transits its territory.

But this kind of transaction would be deemed illegal under the new bill: Governments making in-kind transactions with the Syrian government would be exposed to US sanctions, as would anyone involved in a “significant transaction,” which the bill describes as “any natural gas, electricity, or other energy-related transactions”.

Washington has always been unsure about the idea: Although it has voiced support for the initiative in the past, the US is yet to provide assurances to Egypt that it won’t face sanctions if it uses the pipeline to ship gas to Lebanon.

Why now? The authors of the legislation want to push back on regional efforts to normalize ties with Damascus. The Arab League earlier this month voted to reinstate Syria as a member, 12 years after it was expelled following its crackdown on Arab Spring protesters, while some Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working towards reestablishing full diplomatic ties with Assad.

In another effort to dissuade governments from getting close to the Assad government:

The legislation would allow sanctions to be imposed on any airport that allows Syrian Arab Airlines and private airline Cham Wings to land planes.

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