Lebanese Banks Rejecting Cash Transfers From Syria?

From an important piece in the New York Times on how the sanctions are starting to bite in Syria:

The owner of a handicrafts business who this week tried to transfer $450 to the Lebanese bank account of one of her suppliers found the transaction rejected because it originated in Syria. She had to hand-deliver the cash instead.

You could think that 450$ is a very small amount and that it is not fair to punish Syrian traders like this. So you might ask: Can’t we agree on a minimum amount under which it’s okay to transfer?

It’s not that simple; all wire transfers go through the Syrian central bank, which is now under strict Arab sanctions. This means that the regional money-transfer infrastructure has effectively quarantined Syria out. So even if some Lebanese bankers wanted to cheat, they wouldn’t be able to.