Assad

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 7 (UPI) — Lebanon faces the dilemma of whether to go ahead with negotiations with Israel to end the ongoing cycle of violence and prevent a full-scale war despite Hezbollah‘s rejection of the talks — highlighting a deep political divide within the country.

The Hezbollah-Israel war, which broke out when the Iran-backed group opened a support front for Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, never came to an end, even after a cease-fire agreement was reached on Nov. 27, 2024.

Israel has continued its unrestrained attacks on Hezbollah, causing further casualties and destruction. It has refused to withdraw from five strategic positions it still occupies in southern Lebanon, refrained from releasing Lebanese prisoners detained during the war, and prevented displaced residents from returning to their border villages turned to ruin.

The Lebanese Army’s successful advance in taking control of southern Lebanon and eliminating Hezbollah’s military presence along the border and south of the Litani River, as stipulated by the cease-fire agreement, does not seem sufficient for Israel, which wants Hezbollah to be completely disarmed.

In fact, Hezbollah, which suffered heavy losses during the war, has refrained from firing a single shot in retaliation to Israel’s continued air and drone strikes, which allegedly target the group’s remaining arms depots and military infrastructure beyond southern areas of the Litani River.

However, Hezbollah’s recent claims that it has fully recovered, restructured its military capabilities and rebuilt its command structure — coupled with its refusal to disarm or support Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in his new approach to negotiations with Israel — put the country at risk of another round of war.

While Aoun said that Lebanon has no choice but to engage in talks with Israel to end its occupation and halt its attacks, Hezbollah rejected any attempt to involve the country in new negotiations — outside the framework of the “mechanism” committee responsible for supervising the implementation of the ceasefire accord — arguing that they would only serve “the enemy and its interests.”

Hisham Jaber, a Lebanese military expert and former Army general, said it is the Lebanese state — not Hezbollah — that should negotiate with Israel, based on terms set by President Aoun: no direct or political negotiations, only military-security talks conducted via a third party, such as the U.S. or the United Nations, and no use of force to complete Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Jaber said that indirect talks with Israel had proven successful, recalling the 2022 U.S.-mediated maritime border deal that ended a years-long dispute between Lebanon and Israel over the ownership of natural gas fields.

“Why not do that again?” he told UPI. But to sit at the negotiation table, he added, the United States, which is pressuring Lebanon to accept the talks, should ensure that Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon and releases the prisoners, instead of “cornering us.”

What Lebanon wants is for Israel to abide by the truce accord through the “mechanism” committee, which is made up of Israel, Lebanon, the United States, France and the United Nations. However, the newly proposed negotiations, although their framework is still unclear, would also address land border disputes and other issues.

“There is a need for an agreement on the disputed points along the border, and this is not within the mandate of the mechanism,” said Riad Kahwaji, a Middle East security analyst, adding that the truce committee is charged with ensuring Hezbollah’s disarmament, the return of prisoners, and Israel’s withdrawal behind the [U.N.-drawn] Blue Line that existed before the last war in October 2023.

If the new negotiations with Israel proceed and result in a final land border agreement, it would lead to the cessation of the state of war between the two countries, and “the 1949 Armistice will prevail,” Kahwaji said..

“But, of course, Hezbollah does not want an end to the state of war between Lebanon and Israel, because that would require it to disarm, causing it to lose its value for Iran and its significance and standing within its own popular base,” he told UPI. “Its resistance will no longer be needed or relevant.”

However, Hezbollah’s attempts to rearm appear extremely difficult after the group lost its main supply route after the overthrow of its key ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as its long-standing access to Beirut’s port and airport, which it had used for years to smuggle weapons and funds.

It is now impossible for Hezbollah to smuggle large weapons, such as heavy missiles, across the border with Syria, though it may still attempt to acquire Grad rockets, anti-tank Kornet missiles and drones.

“If Hezbollah goes into another war with Israel, it will be using whatever is left from its arsenal, which is not that much,” Kahwaji said, noting that the group now has “a different leadership” after Israel killed most of its top leaders and military commanders, and that “its popular base is exhausted … so the repercussions will be huge.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is acting as a victor,” refusing to make any concessions and imposing all his conditions, he added.

Lebanon has been facing mounting pressure, especially from the United States and Israel, to disarm Hezbollah even forcibly. Authorities prefer a quiet approach to avoid a confrontation between the Lebanese Army and the militant group, which could create divisions within the army and potentially spark a civil war.

Jaber, the former Army general who is well-informed about Hezbollah, said Washington should instead understand and support Lebanon’s approach, because the group “is ready to hand over its weapons” if Israel stops its attacks and withdraws in line with the truce accord.

“Hezbollah is prepared to relinquish its offensive weapons first, followed by its defensive weapons at a later stage, as part of a national defense strategy,” he said. “This is now an attrition war, not between two parties, but led by only one [Israel].”

Iran, which has funded and armed Hezbollah since its formation in the early 1980s, no longer is interfering in the group’s day-to-day affairs, but remains keen to preserve it as a political and military entity -a card in its hand — after “losing all its other cards in the region,” Jaber said.

With Israel threatening to expand its attacks and launch a full-scale war to force the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, Lebanon remains with few options: diplomacy and political pressure.

“It is in Lebanon’s best interest to seize this opportunity and drag Israel into negotiations to end the war and the conflict,” Kahwaji said.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Lebanon and Syria announced Friday the opening of a new chapter in their relations nearly 10 months after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

This marks an attempt to move away from decades of tense ties, characterized by political domination and military interference, toward building a strong political and economic partnership.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, the first high-ranking Syrian official to visit Lebanon since Assad was overthrown by rebel insurgents in December, said a historic, political and economic opportunity exists to transform the Lebanese-Syrian relationship from “a tense, security-based one into a strong political and economic partnership” that benefits both countries.

“We look forward to turning the page on the past because we want to build the future,” al-Shibani said, reaffirming his country’s respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and its commitment to establishing strong bilateral relations.

Earlier Friday, Syria told Lebanon it decided to suspend the work of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council and limit all forms of correspondence between the two countries to official diplomatic channels.

The council was established in 1991, after Syria — under the late President Hafez Assad — imposed itself as the main power broker in Lebanon, having been granted a guardianship role after the civil war ended a year earlier.

Lebanon has suffered from a decades-long Syrian military presence — which began in 1976, shortly after the outbreak of the civil strife — along with political domination and manipulation that deeply affected its governance, political life, economy and overall stability.

Syria also was accused of being behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and numerous other such killings during the civil war and in peace time. Its influence over Lebanon began to wane rapidly following the withdrawal of its troops in 2005 and the outbreak of anti-Assad peaceful protests in 2011, which soon escalated into a bloody civil war.

Syrians, for their part, harbor grudges against Hezbollah — and its patron, Iran –for siding with the Assad regime and joining the brutal battles against opposition fighters starting in 2012. The involvement of Hezbollah and Iran in Syria ended with Assad’s fall.

“Our peoples have suffered from wars and tragedies; let us try peace,” al-Shibani said after talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, calling for strengthened cooperation in all fields so that Lebanon can benefit from the lifting of international sanctions on Syria.

Aoun, who called for the appointment of a new Syrian ambassador to Lebanon — a post vacant since the fall of Assad — said that deepening and developing bilateral relations requires the formation of joint committees to address all outstanding issues.

Both countries have undergone major changes and are working to resolve several complex issues, including the case of over 2,000 Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons, the fate of numerous Lebanese prisoners or missing persons in Syria, the return of 1.5 million Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their homeland, the demarcation of land and maritime borders, and joint efforts to combat drug trafficking and terrorism.

“We have a long road ahead of us. …. We have no choice but to agree on what serves these mutual interests,” Aoun said, noting that the situation along the Lebanese-Syrian border has improved.

Al Shibani, accompanied by Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais, the head of Syrian intelligence, Hussein al-Salama; and the assistant interior minister, Maj. Gen. Abdel Qader Tahan, said all these issues were “certainly top priorities” and that committees from both countries are reviewing them.

The Syrian foreign minister, who also met with his Lebanese counterpart, Joe Rajji, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, emphasized the importance of enhancing security and intelligence coordination, as well as forming technical and economic committees across the public and private sectors to support Syria’s post-war reconstruction.

“Syria is undergoing a phase of recovery and reconstruction, which should positively reflect on Lebanon,” al-Shibani said.

Rajji praised Syria’s new leadership for respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and refraining from interference in its internal affairs, adding, “We will work together to open a new path based on peace, security, economic cooperation and joint development.”

Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, who attended the meeting between al-Shibani and Salam, said both countries demonstrated “political will” to address every issue “without taboos.”

“We have opened a new chapter in Lebanese-Syrian relations unlike any seen in the past fifty years,” Mitri said in an official statement released after the meeting.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa discuss cooperation and mutual respect as Ukraine and Syria rebuild diplomatic relations.

Ukraine and Syria have formally restored diplomatic relations as their leaders met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following his meeting with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, along with an accompanying delegation, also attended the meeting on Wednesday in New York, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

Ukraine broke off relations with Syria in 2022 after the government of the country’s former ruler, Bashar al-Assad, moved to recognise the “independence” of the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Shortly after, Syria announced it would break ties with Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Syria signed a communique on the restoration of their diplomatic relations.

“We welcome this important step and are ready to support the Syrian people on their path to stability,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.

“During our negotiations with the President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa, we also discussed in detail promising sectors for developing cooperation, security threats faced by both countries, and the importance of countering them,” Zelenskyy said.

Today, Ukraine and Syria signed a Joint Communiqué on the restoration of diplomatic relations. We welcome this important step and are ready to support the Syrian people on their path to stability.

During our negotiations with President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa, we also discussed… pic.twitter.com/HBXsoaRob8

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 24, 2025

The Ukrainian leader said the two sides agreed to build “our relations on the basis of mutual respect and trust”.

Al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Sunday with a delegation of ministers to join the annual UN General Assembly, marking Syria’s first participation in the event at the presidential level in nearly 60 years.

Damascus had boycotted the gathering after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel occupied the Golan Heights in southwest Syria.

President Nureddin al-Atassi was the last Syrian head of state to attend the UN summit, holding office from 1966 to 1970.

In January, al-Sharaa assumed power in Damascus after the opposition forces he led overthrew President al-Assad’s regime, bringing an end to the Assad family’s five-decade rule over Syria.

In his debut speech at the UNGA earlier on Wednesday, al-Sharaa called for the lifting of international sanctions on his war-torn nation.

Al-Sharaa highlighted the reform measures introduced in the months since he took power, including the creation of new institutions, plans for elections and efforts to attract foreign investment.

A French court issues the warrants in connection with the bombing of a press centre in Homs in 2012 that killed two journalists.

A French court has issued arrest warrants for seven former top Syrian officials, including ex-President Bashar al-Assad, for the bombing of a press centre in Homs, a judicial source and a human rights organisation said.

A rocket hit the “informal press centre” on February 22, 2012, killing renowned US journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and injuring two other journalists and an interpreter.

Besides al-Assad, who fled to Russia in December 2024 when opposition fighters seized control of Syria, warrants have also been issued against his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub, among others.

France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts.

The Syrian Centre for Media and Free Expression said that the French judicial investigation had found that the attack had deliberately targeted foreign journalists.

“The judicial investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre in Bab Amr was part of the Syrian regime’s explicit intention to target foreign journalists in order to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country,” said Mazen Darwish, a lawyer and the general director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, in a statement.

Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also noted that the journalists had clandestinely entered the besieged city to “document the crimes committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime” and were victims of a “targeted bombing”.

Clemence Bectarte, lawyer FIDH and Ochlik’s parents, welcomed Tuesday’s warrants and called it “a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”

British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier and Syrian translator Wael Omar were also wounded in the attack on the informal press centre where they had been working.

Colvin was known for her fearless reporting and signature black eye patch, which she wore after losing sight in one eye in an explosion during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Her career was celebrated in a Golden Globe-nominated film, A Private War.

Homs, in western Syria, was a major rebel stronghold during the Syrian war and was besieged by al-Assad government forces from 2011 to 2014. The siege ended with rebel forces withdrawing from the city.

July 7 (UPI) — The Trump administration announced Monday it will rescind the terrorist designation given to the Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

In a document from the State Department, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote that the United States has revoked “the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as a foreign terrorist organization.”

The revocation will go into effect upon its official publication Tuesday, but the letter already has been made available to read by the general public.

HTS is currently leading Syria as a transitional government after it led the overthrow of former dictator President Bashar al-Assad in December. The group’s origins come from a Syrian branch of al-Qaida, but it severed ties several years ago. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, HTS has about 40,000 members, as of early this year, and had employed “insurgency tactics” in its fight against the Assad regime.

The State Department added HTS to the Nusrah Front’s existing foreign terrorist organization designation in June 2018.

“Tomorrow’s action follows the announced dissolution of HTS and the Syrian government’s commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms,” Rubio said in a statement.

“This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President [Donald] Trump’s vision of a stable, unified and peaceful Syria.”

Trump directed the State Department last week to review the status of HTS as a terrorist group as part of an executive order that removed most sanctions formerly levied on Syria, while leaving those in place that target Assad and his regime.

“I took off the sanctions because if I didn’t do that, they wouldn’t have had a chance. And Syria has a chance,” Trump said last week during a press conference in Florida.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is revoking the terrorism designation of a group led by Syria’s new president as part of a broader U.S. engagement with the transitional government since the ouster of former leader Bashar Assad late last year.

In a statement released on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move, which will take effect on Tuesday, “recognizes the positive actions taken by the new Syrian government” under President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Earlier Monday, the Federal Register published an advance notice, which said Rubio made the decision on June 23 in consultation with the attorney general and Treasury secretary.

The decision had not been previously announced, although it was made as the Trump administration has been moving to ease or end many U.S. sanctions that had been imposed during Assad’s rule.

The step looks to further end Syria’s isolation since a lightning rebel offensive ousted the Assad family from decades of rule and gives the new government a boost as it tries to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

The brief notice offered no details about the revocation of the foreign terrorist organization designation for the al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Al-Nusrah was originally designated a foreign terrorist organization for its previous affiliation with Al Qaeda. In 2017, it split and changed its name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the first Trump administration added to the initial designation.

Syria has been improving relations with the United States and other Western countries following the fall of Assad in December in an offensive led by Al-Sharaa ’s group.

On June 30, seven days after Rubio signed the revocation, President Trump signed an executive order ending many U.S. economic sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise he made to Al-Sharaa when the two met in Saudi Arabia in May.

“This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,” Rubio said in his statement.

Trump’s executive order did not rescind sanctions imposed on Assad, his top aides, family members and officials who had been determined to have committed human rights abuses or been involved in drug trafficking or part of Syria’s chemical weapons program.

It also leaves intact a major set of sanctions passed by Congress targeting anyone doing business with or offering support to Syria’s military, intelligence or other suspect institutions.

While the Trump administration has passed temporary waivers on those sanctions, known as the Caesar Act, they can only be permanently repealed by law.

Lee writes for the Associated Press.

June 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday afternoon removing many U.S. sanctions levied against Syria, months after he promised the war-torn country’s new leader that he would lift the “brutal and crippling” punitive measures.

The United States has hit Syria with a slew of sanctions over the decades, especially targeting the former reign of dictator president Bashar al-Assad for his civil war and repression of his own people.

The sanctions relief announced Monday removes punitive economic measures from Syria while maintaining those that apply to al-Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, individuals linked to chemical weapons activities and members of terrorist organizations and Iranian proxy militias.

“President Trump is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” the White House said in a statement.

The announcement follows Trump’s meeting with his Syrian counterpart, transitional leader President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in mid-May in Riyadh, where the American president vowed to lift the sanctions.

“The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important — really, an important function — nevertheless, at the time,” Trump said. “But now, it’s time to shine.”

He said he would lift the sanctions “to give them a chance at greatness.”

Following the meeting, the U.S. Treasury implemented a 180-day waiver on the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 sanctions, which imposed punitive measures on those related to the Syrian civil war — a conflict that began in 2011 when al-Assad violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Al-Assad was ousted in December by jihadist-led rebels, and al-Sharaa was appointed president.

“This is in an effort to promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday during a press briefing ahead of Trump’s signing of the executive order.

The State Department further explained in a statement that the sanctions to remain in place “are a tool to promote accountability for Assad, his cronies and others who seek to destabilize Syria or the region.”

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based organization supporting the Syrian opposition, applauded Trump for removing the sanctions.

“It is now the responsibility of the new Syrian government to ensure safety and security, the transition to democracy and economic prosperity for all Syrians,” SETF’s advocacy director, Veronica Zanetta-Brandoni, said in a statement.

June 2 (UPI) — Missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the regime of the since-deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2012 with his whereabouts now not known, according to top secret intelligence files uncovered by the BBC.

Former Syrian officials also have confirmed Tice’s detention to the BBC. The material was part of a BBC investigation more than one year ago for a Radio 4 podcast series in accompanying a Syrian investigator to an intelligence facility.

The Assad regime had denied they had imprisoned him, and didn’t know where he was.

The U.S. government believes he had been held by the Syrian government.

Tice was a freelance journalist, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a law student at Georgetown University.

He had gone to Syria to report on the civil war.

Tice vanished near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012, just days after his 31st birthday.

About seven weeks later, a video posted online showed him blindfolded and with his hands bound. He was also forced to recite an Islamic declaration of faith by armed men.

U.S. officials and analysts doubt he was abducted by a jihadist group and the scene “may have been staged.”

Instead, Tice allegedly was held by members of a paramilitary force loyal to Assad called the National Defence Forces.

The files, which are labeled “Austin Tice,” include communication from different branches of Syrian intelligence. Law enforcement verified their authenticity.

In one “top secret” communication, he was held in a detention facility in Damascus in 2012. A Syrian official confirmed to the BBC he was there until at least February 2013.

The BBC reported Tice briefly escaped by squeezing through a window in his cell, but he was later recaptured.

Tice had developed stomach issues from a viral infection.

A man who visited the facility told the BBC that Tice “looked sad, and that the joy had gone from his face.”

A former member of the NDF told the BBC that Tice was a “card” that could be played in diplomatic negotiations with the United States.

After Assad’s ouster in December 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden and mother, Debra Tice, said they believed he was alive. She said he was “treated well,” according to a “significant source.”

Rebel forces stormed his regime-run jails in Damascus and other Syrian regions and freed them. Tice was not among them.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it has registered 35,000 cases of people who have gone missing in Syria in the past 13 years. Syria’s Network for Human Rights put the number of Syrians “in forced disappearance” at 80,000 to 85,000 killed under torture in Assad’s detention centers.

Only 33,000 detainees have been found and freed from Syria’s prisons since Assad’s ouster, according to human rights network.

On May 14, Trump met with the Syrian Arab Republic’s new president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Trump told reporters, “Austin has not been seen in many, many years,” and gave no other details.

May 29 (UPI) — The United States ambassador’s residence in Damascus, Syria, re-opened Thursday after being closed for 13 years, presaging a warming of relations between the two countries.

Tom Barrack, the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, has also been appointed special envoy to Syria, and raised a U.S. flag outside the residence to inaugurate it, according to the Syrian run news agency SANA.

“Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East,” a statement from the State Department on X said. “Together, we will make America and the world, SAFE AGAIN!”

Barrack met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to witness the signing of an agreement with Middle Eastern countries aimed at developing a $7 billion, 5,000 megawatt energy project that would revitalize Syria’s aging and worn electricity grid and use it as the backbone of the new power project.

The new energy project could supply Syria with 50% of its electricity needs, according to a statement from Qatari-based UCC Holding, which is among the partners in the project.

In a further sign of warming relations between the United States and the Middle East, President Donald Trump met earlier this month with al-Sharaa in Riyadh, a move that prompted the United States to begin walking back sanctions imposed on Syria during the repressive regime of Bahsar al-Assad.

During the reopening of the ambassador’s residence Thursday, Barrack called lifting the sanctions a “bold move,” and said it comes with “no conditions, no requirements.”

Barrack credited Trump for “your bold vision, empowering a historically rich region, long oppressed, to reclaim its destiny through self-determination.”

May 24 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s administration is lifting sanctions on war-torn Syria, with the goal of speeding recovery and reconstruction efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

The move will pave the way for “new investment and private sector activity consistent with the President’s America First strategy,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement this week.

Trump earlier this month met with Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa where he promised he would lift “crippling” U.S. sanctions.

“I have issued a 180-day waiver of mandatory Caesar Act sanctions to ensure sanctions do not impede the ability of our partners to make stability-driving investments, and advance Syria’s recovery and reconstruction efforts,” Rubio said in the statement.

“These waivers will facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response across Syria.”

During his first term in the Oval Office in 2020, Trump imposed sweeping sanctions on Syria and its then-President Bashar al-Assad. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 had a major impact on Syria’s economy, particularly its financial and construction sectors.

Trump at the time said sanctions were targeting entities and individuals that were “actively supporting the murderous and barbaric Assad regime.”

Assad was ousted from power last December, fleeing to Russia. It ended a five-decade run of Assad family rule in Syria.

In addition to lifting sanctions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued Syria General License 25, allowing people previously blocked from conducting business with Syrian entities to do so under the new al-Sharaa government.

“The GL will allow for new investment and private sector activity consistent with the President’s America First strategy. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is providing exceptive relief to permit U.S. financial institutions to maintain correspondent accounts for the Commercial Bank of Syria,” Rubio said in the statement.

“Today’s actions represent the first step in delivering on the President’s vision of a new relationship between Syria and the United States,” Rubio said. “President Trump is providing the Syrian government with the chance to promote peace and stability, both within Syria and in Syria’s relations with its neighbors. The President has made clear his expectation that relief will be followed by prompt action by the Syrian government on important policy priorities.”

The American directive comes just days after the European Union made a similar move. EU officials on Tuesday lifted its sanctions on Syria with the same goal of helping economic recovery.

“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said at the time.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump‘s unexpected approach to Syria has presented a significant opportunity for the country’s interim president, Ahmad Sharaa, to prove that he can overcome the enormous challenges he faces and lead the war-torn nation toward recovery and stabilization, political analysts and experts said.

Trump’s announcement of the cessation of U.S. sanctions, along with his meeting with Sharaa — a former jihadist who, until recently, was on the U.S. most-wanted list with a $10 million bounty on his head — marked a turning point and the beginning of a new chapter for Syria nearly six months after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad and his Baathist regime.

With Assad gone, the sanctions were increasingly seen as only prolonging the suffering of the Syrian people and worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian conditions.

Had the sanctions remained in place, Syria would have become a failed state, as it was just weeks away from financial collapse, according to Mouaz Mustafa of the Syrian Emergency Task Force. In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Mustafa warned that continued sanctions would have led to disastrous consequences for both the region and the world.

With layers of sanctions in place since 1979, the process of lifting them remains unclear, and experts say it will take time.

“There is a huge difference between deciding to lift sanctions and actually lifting them,” Nanar Hawach, a senior Syria analyst for the International Crisis Group, told UPI.

However, he said it would be “a game-changer” for the economy, giving the green light for the private sector and other stakeholders involved in Syria to step in and “be more bold.”

Since taking over after Assad’s ouster, Sharaa has repeatedly called for the lifting of U.S. and other international sanctions to allow his country to breathe again. He understands that without funding and financial support, there is little he can do to put Syria back on track.

Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the continuation of sanctions was hindering the country’s ability to recover and move forward.

Yacoubian noted that removing the sanctions would open the way for Gulf countries in particular to “do more” and channel more resources toward Syria’s early recovery and stabilization, and eventually, reconstruction — provided it is done “transparently and in a responsible way.”

However, Syria’s problems will not be resolved simply by ending the sanctions.

Sharaa is facing “very significant issues,” including sectarian tensions, the need for transitional justice, and how to manage the more extreme elements of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS — the group he led before becoming president — as well as affiliated factions on which he continues to rely while trying to consolidate control.

“So how will he use this newfound breathing space and the anticipated resources to consolidate his personal power, or rather to put Syria on a more sustainable path toward stability and, ultimately, peace?” Yacoubian asked rhetorically.

She added that he will have to demonstrate a willingness to undertake complex processes related to transitional justice, inclusive governance, and national reconciliation.

According to Hawach, Trump has given Sharaa “the benefit of the doubt,” and the new leadership in Damascus will need to seize this opportunity to meet internal and external expectations.

“How willing are they to take bold, risky steps such as distancing themselves from their radical base and expanding to include a broader range of constituencies?” he asked. “Are they prepared to take courageous actions to rein in or address the presence of foreign fighters? Would they focus on other issues, such as building institutional capacity or strengthening military capabilities?”

Trump, who described Sharaa as an “attractive, tough guy,” urged him to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel, expel foreign fighters from Syria, deport Palestinian militants, assist the U.S. in preventing an ISIS resurgence and take responsibility for ISIS detention centers in northeast Syria.

What Syrians want most is a more inclusive national dialogue and political process, the formation of a national army and measures to address the fears of minority groups.

Anas Joudeh, a political researcher and founder of the Nation Building Movement in Syria, said the first step would be for Sharaa to seriously engage with all of the country’s constituencies, restart the national dialogue, adopt a new constitution, and form a more inclusive government.

“We can’t expect things to be perfect right now,” Joudeh told UPI. “We will strongly support any move toward greater inclusivity, as the country is heading toward total economic and social collapse.”

He said the key to Syria’s successful transition is the formation of a national army, which poses a “big challenge” for Sharaa. This includes absorbing the armed factions, addressing the foreign fighters who still maintain control in several areas and convincing the Druze, Alawites and Kurds to lay down their weapons.

“But that would be very difficult if Sharaa keeps on [running the country] with the same mentality,” Joudeh said.

Sharaa will, therefore, need to address the concerns of the Druze, Alawites and Kurds, find solutions to mitigate feelings of existential threat, impose security and, ultimately, act not as a faction leader, but as the leader of the entire country, Hawach said.

“If they decide to make positive steps towards these communities, this is the perfect time to do so,” he added.

He explained that with the possibility of accessing much-needed funds, the country can recruit for the army, establish better command control and gain more leverage to deal with armed factions that are not yet fully under the new authorities’ control.

Makram Rabah, a political activist and history professor at the American University of Beirut, said Trump’s meeting with Sharaa will put more pressures on him to act as a political leader.

“Lifting the sanctions sent a message not only to Sharaa but also to the Druze, Kurds and Alawites: that there is political cover, a form of settlement, and a need to work together,” Rabah told UPI. “However, this is far from easy.”

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump met Wednesday with Syria’s new leader, praising him as a “young, attractive guy” and urging him to rid his country of “Palestinian terrorists.”

Trump also urged Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to sign onto the historic Abraham Accords brokered during Trump’s first term.

The meeting in Riyadh came as Trump concluded the Saudi Arabian leg of his Middle Eastern trip and headed to Qatar, the second destination of what has so far been an opulence-heavy tour of the region.

The meeting with Al-Sharaa, which lasted roughly half an hour and was the first time in a quarter of a century that the leaders of the two nations have met, marks a significant victory for Al-Sharaa’s fledgling government, coming one day after Trump’s decision to lift long-standing sanctions from the war-ravaged country.

It also lends legitimacy to a leader whose past as an Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadi leader — Al-Sharaa severed ties with the group in 2016 — had made Western nations keep him at arm’s length.

The sanctions were imposed on Syria in 2011, when the now-deposed President Bashar Assad began a brutal crackdown to quell anti-government uprisings.

Al-Sharaa headed an Islamist rebel coalition that toppled Assad in December, but the Trump administration and other Western governments conditioned the lifting of sanctions on his government fulfilling certain conditions.

Yet as is his custom, Trump cut through protocol and relied on personal relations, lifting the sanctions at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a long-time supporter of Syria’s rebellion, who joined the meeting via phone.

Speaking on Air Force One en route to Qatar, Trump described Al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

“He’s got a real shot at holding it together,” Trump added. “I spoke with President Erdogan, who is very friendly with him. He feels he’s got a shot of doing a good job. It’s a torn-up country.”

According to a readout shared by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, Trump urged Al-Sharaa to sign onto the Abraham Accords, tell “foreign terrorists” to leave Syria and deport “Palestinian terrorists,” help the U.S. in preventing Islamic State’s resurgence and assume responsibility for detention centers in northeast Syria housing thousands of people affiliated with Islamic State.

The Abraham Accords were the centerpiece of Trump’s foreign policy achievements in his first term. Brokered in 2020, they established diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — without conditioning them on Palestinian statehood or Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.

Under Assad, Syria maintained a decades-old truce with Israel, despite hosting several Palestinian factions and allowing Iran and affiliated groups to operate in the country.