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Leila Al-Khatib

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PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

  • President Ahmed Al-Sharaa made a public Visa card payment in Damascus, marking Syria’s global financial system return after decades of isolation.
  • The move followed the US removing Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, a designation that had stood since 1979.
  • US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the decision would help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability.
  • Central bank governor Safwat Raslan called the payment a moment that was hard to put into words.

Syria’s global financial system return took visible shape this week, and it happened over a cup of coffee. President Ahmed Al-Sharaa used a Visa card to pay a Damascus vendor in a video released early Thursday, a small transaction carrying outsized symbolism for a country locked out of global banking networks for nearly five decades.

Al-Sharaa made the payment sitting beside Safwat Raslan, governor of Syria’s central bank. Raslan posted the footage on X. He described watching the president complete the country’s first Visa card payment in the capital as a feeling difficult to put into words. He noted it came one day after Syria’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that had shaped the country’s economic isolation since 1979.

A Decades-Old Label Comes Off

The United States removed Syria from its state sponsors of terrorism list on Monday, a step Damascus had pushed for since the fall of the Assad government. The change took effect after a 45-day congressional review period that began when President Donald Trump formally notified Congress in July of his intention to rescind the designation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorized the formal rescission once that review period ended, and also delisted Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the group Al-Sharaa once led, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Rubio framed the decision as recognition of steps Damascus had taken over the past year, saying the government of Syria had joined the global coalition against ISIS and conducted operations against terror networks including ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Iran-aligned groups. He called the move another historic step by President Trump to give the Syrian people a path to prosperity.

Rebels led by Al-Sharaa overthrew longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December 2024, ending a civil war that had run for more than a decade. The terrorism designation had blocked most forms of American trade, investment, and financial contact with Syria for that entire period and long before it.

What the Designation Removal Unlocks

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move would help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability, adding that it followed through on a promise Trump made to deliver sanctions relief to the country. Treasury was careful to draw a line around the scope of the change. The department stressed that removing the restrictions did not change its posture on countering global terrorism or its commitment to hold bad actors in Syria accountable.

The timing lines up with a broader push already underway. In May, the Central Bank of Syria authorized local banks and electronic payment companies to work directly with international payment providers such as Visa and Mastercard, part of a plan to move the country past its reliance on cash. That decision followed a December 2025 roadmap agreement between the central bank and Visa focused on building a modern payment system. The coffee payment in Damascus put a face on work that had been building for months.

Raslan, who took over as central bank governor in May, has said publicly that Syria’s financial reforms only matter if people feel them in daily life. His remarks alongside the president echoed that theme. He described the terrorism list removal as returning Syria to its natural place in the global economic system, a framing that positions the Visa payment as proof of concept rather than a one-off gesture.

Reconstruction Money Still Has to Show Up

Syria’s global financial system return carries weight because the country needs outside capital badly. Syria’s banking industry held just $12 billion in assets as of November 2024, with state-owned banks holding 69 percent of that total. The World Bank has described those state lenders as likely distressed. Analysts covering the sector have warned that lifting sanctions does not automatically fix a banking system this weak, and that reconstruction financing depends on more than a delisting.

Lebanese, Jordanian, Bahraini, and Qatari banks that kept minimal operations running in Syria during the war are positioned to scale up activity as restrictions ease, with early focus expected on retail banking, cross-border payments, and remittances from Syrians living abroad. Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar have already pledged multibillion-dollar investments tied to reconstruction.

Al-Sharaa addressed the terrorism list removal directly in a recorded statement, saying Syria was shaking off a dark stain and tearing away a painful chapter of its past to embark on a path of development, reconstruction, and rebuilding. The Visa payment gave that language a physical moment attached to it.

Why the Optics Matter

A single card payment does not rebuild a banking sector. But for a government trying to convince investors, banks, and ordinary Syrians that the country is open again, small public proofs carry real weight. Syria’s global financial system’s return will ultimately be measured in trade volumes, correspondent banking relationships, and IMF assessments, not video clips. Still, the choice to stage that first Visa transaction with the central bank governor sitting next to the president was deliberate. It told a story the government wanted told, at the exact moment the story became true.

The next test comes from institutions rather than optics. Syria’s government has the remainder of 2026 and 2027 to convert this moment into durable outcomes, including restored correspondent banking relationships and completed regulatory reviews. Whether Syria’s global financial system return holds depends on those steps landing on schedule.

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  • Banking System, Digital Economy, Economy, Syria

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Syria's Global Financial System Return
  • Syria
  • 5 min read
Tesla Cybertruck into the Luxury Segment
  • Tesla Inc.

The move to push the Tesla Cybertruck into the luxury segment arrived this week as a price increase, not the discount a slow-selling product usually gets. On Tuesday, Tesla lifted the sticker price of two trims by $5,000 each. The base Dual Motor now starts at $74,990, up from $69,990. Premium All-Wheel Drive rose to $84,990 from $79,990. The Cyberbeast held at $99,990. Tesla made the change without an announcement, and new numbers simply appeared on the order page.

A Tesla Cybertruck price increase against falling sales

That Tesla Cybertruck price increase runs against the direction sales have taken. Cox Automotive estimates Tesla sold 7,263 Cybertrucks in the US during the first half of 2026, down 32.2% from the same period a year earlier. Tesla does not report Cybertruck deliveries on its own, so third-party counts fill the gap. The figure sits far below the 250,000 annual deliveries CEO Elon Musk once said the truck could reach.

Pushing the Tesla Cybertruck into the luxury segment

Seth Goldstein, a Morningstar analyst, said the higher prices could help Tesla offset rising material costs and protect its margins as it plans for lower volumes. Rather than chase mass-market numbers, Goldstein said the company looks ready to keep the truck as a lower-volume luxury vehicle whose odd design can command a premium. Moving the Tesla Cybertruck into the luxury segment fits a wider shift at the automaker. Earlier this year, Tesla ended production of the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV, its two established premium cars. Their exit left a gap at the top of the range. The pickup now carries that premium role, priced for buyers who want something rare rather than cheap.

The Cybertruck Dual Motor price tells part of the story. That base trim launched in February 2026 at $59,990 as a short promotion, then climbed to $69,990, and now sits at $74,990. Its path adds $15,000 in roughly six months for the same vehicle. Buyers have learned to read any Tesla figure as temporary. This Cybertruck price hike also stands out because the Cyberbeast avoided it. The Cybertruck Cyberbeast price stayed at $99,990, at least for now.

Where Tesla Cybertruck sales 2026 stand

Tesla Cybertruck sales in 2026 have run below the company’s early hopes. Most electric pickups have slipped this year, with the Chevrolet Silverado EV down by a similar share near 32.5%, while the GMC Sierra EV managed a small gain. Pricing that shifts from week to week gives fleet buyers little reason to commit. Resale value adds to the caution, since early Foundation Series trucks that once resold above $150,000 now trade for far less. Steering the Tesla Cybertruck into the luxury segment accepts these limits. Tesla looks content to sell fewer trucks at higher margins rather than fight for volume it may not win.

A lineup sorted by margin

The pattern points to a company ranking its models by profit. Optimus robots and the Cybercab robotaxi now sit at the center of Tesla’s plans, and the pickup no longer needs to move in large numbers to hold its place. A higher price on a slower seller reads as a deliberate call about where the Cybertruck belongs.

  • 3 min read
Saudi Arabia Eyes Petrodollar Alternative
  • mBridge

Saudi Arabia eyes petrodollar alternative routes now. It has not broken from the dollar in public. Riyadh is building a second option instead. That option runs through Beijing. Riyadh is quietly testing whether the option holds up.

Inside the Original Petrodollar System

Henry Kissinger flew to Riyadh in June 1974. He carried a proposal that reshaped global finance. Saudi Arabia agreed to price its oil in dollars. It pushed other OPEC members to do the same. Saudi oil money then flowed into US Treasury bonds and US weapons. Washington promised to protect the kingdom in return. This deal became known as the petrodollar system. It forced oil-importing countries to hold dollars. Oil ran the world. Dollars became the toll for using it.

Researchers at the Arab Center Washington, D.C. found a detail most viral posts skip. The 1974 paperwork set up a joint economic commission. It was not one single oil contract. That commission fell apart by the early 1990s. What survived was a habit, not a signed treaty. Oil kept pricing in dollars because markets stuck with it.

Why Saudi Arabia Eyes Petrodollar Alternative Routes Through mBridge

Saudi Arabia’s central bank joined Project mBridge in June 2024. Project mBridge lets banks settle payments using digital currencies. China, the UAE, Hong Kong and Thailand built the system together. It skips SWIFT, and it skips the dollar too. This is an unusual move for the country that built the dollar’s oil advantage. Saudi Arabia eyes petrodollar alternative tools years before it might ever need them.

China gives Riyadh a clear reason to hedge. S&P Global research names China as Saudi Arabia’s top oil buyer. Chinese officials have pushed for yuan payment on that oil for years. President Xi Jinping raised the idea directly with Gulf leaders in Riyadh. He wants Gulf crude sold through the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange, priced in yuan rather than dollars. Bandar Al-Khorayef, Saudi minister of industry and mineral resources, spoke to the South China Morning Post. He said Saudi Arabia “will always try new things, and is open to new ideas.” The minister added that the petroyuan is not central to his ministry’s plans, though he does not rule the currency out.

Saudi Arabia and BRICS: Keeping Every Door Open

BRICS invited Saudi Arabia to join the bloc in 2023. The group wants less reliance on the dollar worldwide. Riyadh has not said yes to full membership. It has not said no either. Carnegie Endowment researchers call this a deliberate hedge. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman skipped the 2024 BRICS summit. He sent a foreign minister in his place instead. That signaled Riyadh was not ready to pick a side. The Saudi Arabia-BRICS relationship remains unresolved three years after the invitation.

This pattern fits everything else the kingdom is doing. Saudi Arabia eyes petrodollar alternative paths like mBridge and yuan deals mainly as insurance, not as a plan to dump the dollar outright. Washington reportedly asked Saudi Arabia to stay out of BRICS. Riyadh joined mBridge anyway. This is not de-dollarization in any dramatic sense. Nobody has called a press conference. No papers got signed. The dollar has not seen a clean break. It looks more like a country building a second set of pipes while keeping the first set running. Arab Center Washington DC puts dollar oil settlement near 80 percent today. That figure sat near 95 percent two decades ago. The trend has not reversed once in that stretch.

I have covered enough currency stories to know how these shifts move. They do not announce themselves. Instead, they build up slowly, one central bank membership, one skipped summit, one yuan pricing talk at a time. Saudi Arabia eyes petrodollar alternative options because one currency system now carries real risk. Riyadh values open options over loyalty to a single arrangement. The dollar is not disappearing soon. But the kingdom that anchored it in place is no longer standing still.

  • 4 min read
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