The 55-year-old Abu Muhammad stood for long hours in a long line of fellow citizens to get a cooking gas cylinder, one of the necessities of life that became scarce as a result of the Western sanctions on Syria.

"The economic situation is becoming more difficult day after day," the man told Xinhua, saying the U.S. sanctions don't target the Syrian government but the livelihood of the Syrians.

The man said the people are tired after eight years of war in Syria.

"We know the Western sanctions are the reason, but the people want solutions," he demanded.

Abu Muhammad and others are expressing dismay over the consecutive economic crisis in Syria, as the basic stuff such as electricity, cooking gas and the fuel for heating have become scarce.

Additionally, the value of the Syrian pound against the U.S. dollar has depreciated 10 percent over the past few days.

"Gas cylinders are scarce, electricity outages are intolerable in this cold weather, and everything has become more expensive," Adel, 45 years old, told Xinhua.

In general, people are resorting to the social media outlets to express their resentment, posting photos of gas cylinders as a prize.

The recent exacerbated economic pressure wasn't expected in Syria, particularly after the Syrian government forces captured large swathes of the country.

The Syrian government has responded to the growing anger of the people, particularly in this cold winter time in Syria, with reports blaming the U.S. sanctions on Syria for the tough economic situation.

The government said the U.S. has switched from the political war to the economic one by imposing more sanctions on Syria.

Hayan Salman, a Syrian economic analyst, told Xinhua that the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Syria because they aim to target the Syrian people after failing to achieve their goals by politics and military means.

After the eight years of war, the local production in Syria is no longer capable of meeting the demands of the local market, he noted.

The friendly countries of Syria are working to break the economic siege on Syria, he said, adding that the Syrian government is searching for alternatives to limit the negative effect of the Western sanctions.

Late in January, Syria and Iran signed important long-term economic cooperation deals covering all sectors, which were hailed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a strong economic base to face "the economic war launched by the West."

Assad said the signed agreements hold a strategic dimension and constitute a solid economic base for Syria and Iran to face the economic war launched by the Western countries.

The president noted that the economic war on both countries comes following the failure of the Western powers to impose their will on Syria through supporting terrorism.

Maher Ihsan, a Syrian political expert, told Xinhua that the U.S. is trying to make the Syrians who withstood the long-running war flip on their government through tightening the economic siege.

"The economic war is harder than the regular one because it targets every household in Syria," he said, noting that solutions should be found to face the U.S. sanctions which are targeting now every entity that export fuel to Syria.

On Jan. 24, 2019, the U.S. imposed additional sanctions on Syria and on every entity that deals economically with Syria.

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