Syria's president set to visit US in November: Syrian FM
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Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will visit Washington in November to discuss reconstruction, sanctions, and a potential new chapter in Syria-US relations.
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Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa is scheduled to visit the White House in early November, with the central agenda for the talks focusing on the reconstruction of Syria, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani confirmed on Sunday.
The planned visit by Syrian President al-Sharaa to Washington was initially announced by US Special Envoy Tom Barrack on Saturday, with a White House official revealing that the timing of this visit is scheduled for around November 10.
"There will be many issues on the table, starting with the lifting of sanctions and opening of a new chapter between the United States and Syria. We want to establish a very strong partnership between the two countries," al-Shaibani said.
The Syrian president's upcoming visit is historically significant, as the US State Department confirms no Syrian president has ever made an official visit to Washington, a fact that follows al-Sharaa's own address to the UN General Assembly in New York this past September.
US shifts its stance on Syria following al-Assad's fall
In the months following the collapse of the al-Assad's regime, Syrian-US diplomatic activity increased noticeably.
On October 31, the Trump administration expressed support for lifting US sanctions on Syria, specifically those imposed under the Caesar Act, a State Department spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
"The Administration supports repealing the Caesar Act. Congress should include repeal in the NDAA," the spokesperson said.
According to the State Department official, removing these sanctions aligns with Washington's broader counterterrorism strategy.
"Cessation of sanctions against Syria preserves integrity of US primary objective of enduring defeat of the Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS, a terrorist group banned in Russia)," the spokesperson added.
What is Caesar's Act?
Enacted in 2019, the Caesar Act imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Damascus and any entities engaged in business with Syria, with the stated goal of promoting accountability for alleged human-rights violations.
However, many observers note that the law was explicitly designed to exert maximum economic pressure on the Syrian state to trigger a change in government, rather than to protect civilians. The result, they argue, was the devastation of Syria’s economy and worsening humanitarian conditions without achieving the intended political transition.
More rapprochement
In early 2025, US Congressman Cory Mills visited Damascus and met with Syria's al-Sharaa. The two discussed the potential easing of US sanctions and explored Syria’s possible inclusion in the US-brokered "Abraham Accords".
Shortly after, US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack met with al-Sharaa in Istanbul, where he praised Syria’s new leadership for the steps taken regarding foreign fighters and its developing ties with “Israel”. The meeting marked one of several key diplomatic contacts between the two sides.
At the UN General Assembly in New York, al-Sharaa held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where the Syrian president emphasized the need for sanctions relief to support national reconstruction efforts.
This was followed by a meeting in Riyadh, during which US President Donald Trump pledged to lift sanctions on Syria, an announcement welcomed by the Syrian leadership as a major step toward normalization.
