Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli airstrike targets the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City
Al-Qassam: We will postpone the handover of the body of the Israeli captive we found, which was scheduled for today, due to the occupation's violations
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: Israeli occupation aircraft launch airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
Netanyahu's office: At the end of the security consultations, the prime minister instructed the military to launch massive military strikes on the Gaza Strip immediately
President Aoun: We urge the activation of the monitoring committee, the cessation of hostilities, ongoing Israeli violations, attacks
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to US Envoy Morgan Ortagus: Southerners must be enabled to return to their homes and rebuild
Syrian sources: The Israeli occupation has begun withdrawing from the areas it infiltrated last night in the Quneitra countryside.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Massive bombings in eastern Gaza, the second within half an hour, and its sound was heard from central area.
Russian air defense units destroyed a drone that was heading toward Moscow.
Maduro: Tomorrow, a business meeting will be held bringing together hundreds of entrepreneurs from advanced Russian industries with hundreds of Venezuelan businesspeople.

US to sanction Sudan over alleged use of chemical weapons in 2024

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 22 May 2025 23:28
5 Min Read

The sanctions, expected to take effect around June 6, will target Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Listen
  • x
  • AP
    In this Dec. 15, 2014 file photo, the State Department in Washington. State Department email service has been restored after a nearly 12-hour worldwide outage hit its entire unclassified system (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File)

The United States announced Thursday that it will impose sanctions on Sudan following a formal determination that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) used chemical weapons during the country's civil war in 2024. The move, grounded in the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, remains unverified by international bodies and will take effect after a 15-day congressional notification period.

"On April 24, 2025, the United States determined under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 that the Government of Sudan used chemical weapons in 2024," said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

"Following a 15-day Congressional notification period, the United States will impose sanctions on Sudan, including restrictions on US exports to Sudan and on access to US government lines of credit."

The sanctions, expected to take effect around June 6, will target Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the SAF, which has been engaged in a brutal power struggle since 2023 with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).

UAE's arming of RSF raises questions about US neutrality

What adds complexity to the US move is its timing, which comes just weeks after a May 2025 Amnesty International investigation revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) violated the UN arms embargo on Darfur by supplying advanced Chinese weaponry to the RSF. Amnesty documented the use of GB50A guided bombs and AH-4 howitzers, both Chinese-made and re-exported by the UAE, in RSF operations in Khartoum and Darfur.

"The presence of recently manufactured Chinese bombs in North Darfur is a clear violation of the arms embargo by the UAE," said Amnesty's Head of Crisis Research, Brian Castner.

Related News

Sudanese army leaves El Fasher amid RSF advancement, says al-Burhan

Sudan’s Al-Burhan signals readiness for peace talks

Despite these revelations and the fact that the RSF has been widely accused of ethnic cleansing, systematic sexual violence, and war crimes, no additional US sanctions were announced against UAE-linked actors. Analysts note that this asymmetry in accountability appears at odds with US claims of neutrality, especially given the deepening strategic partnership between Washington and Gulf states, particularly the UAE.

Read more: Trump, Qatar sign largest Boeing deal, tout $1.2T 'economic exchange'

The timing has prompted speculation that the US decision to single out the SAF for a chemical weapons allegation, absent multilateral confirmation, may be shaped in part by its broader geopolitical realignment in the Gulf. Critics argue that Washington's silence on the UAE's arming of the RSF, exposed not only by Amnesty but also by earlier UN Panel of Experts reports, risks undermining the credibility of its sanctions regime and humanitarian messaging.

ICJ ruling adds legal tension

Just days before the Amnesty report, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed a genocide case filed by Sudan against the UAE, citing a jurisdictional technicality. While the ICJ did not examine the substance of Sudan's allegations that the UAE had fueled RSF-led atrocities in Darfur, its ruling marked a legal setback for Khartoum and removed, for now, a multilateral path to accountability against external RSF backers.

Although chemical weapons use would constitute a serious breach of international law, no independent verification has been issued by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) or a UN-led mechanism. This leaves the US to claim a unilateral finding, leading legal scholars and humanitarian observers to warn that such moves, without a transparent, multilateral investigation, could politicize arms control norms and erode global trust in mechanisms designed to protect civilians.

Sanctions in a broken landscape

This latest action follows previous US measures in January 2025, when both Hemedti and Burhan were sanctioned over atrocities committed by the RSF and SAF. However, the new designation of chemical weapons use is the most severe charge yet, and could further fracture Sudan's already dire humanitarian landscape.

The war has devastated Sudan's economy, displaced millions, and created one of the world's most urgent humanitarian crises. Aid organizations fear that additional US sanctions, particularly if not paired with meaningful diplomacy, could worsen civilian suffering and further obstruct humanitarian access.

In the absence of international consensus or verified evidence, the US position is likely to remain controversial. Some view the move as a necessary response to atrocity; others see it as a strategic maneuver shaped by shifting alliances in the Gulf, one that risks inflaming rather than resolving the crisis in Sudan.

Read more: Former UN official Kamil Idris appointed as Sudan’s new prime minister

  • Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
  • Sudan
  • us sanctions
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Sudanese army

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Delta Air Lines flight lands at Harry Reid International Airport, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Las Vegas (AP)
Politics

Nearly 3,800 US flights disrupted amid ongoing government shutdown

FILE - The Amazon logo is pictured at the Amazon Robotic Sorting Fulfillment Center in Madison County, Miss., Aug. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Economy

Amazon to cut 30,000 jobs in largest layoff in company history

Eurofighter Typhoon Spain's Air Force fighter jets fly above the military parade marking 'Día de la Hispanidad', or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP)
Politics

UK sells 20 Eurofighter jets to Türkiye in £8bln defense agreement

Smoke billows after drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the northern port in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

RSF tighten El Fasher siege as Sudan risks fragmentation: Reuters

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS