International US lifts sanctions against Syria's interim president
A few days before Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa visits the White House, the USA lifts sanctions against him. The US State Department announced that Al-Sharaa would be removed from a list of terrorists sanctioned by the government. Al-Sharaa has been on the list since 2013. Syria's Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab will also no longer be on the list in future, it added.
08.11.2025, 10:45
SDA
The Foreign Ministry stated that the progress made by the Syrian leadership after the fall of long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad and many years of oppression was recognized. As interim president, Al-Sharaa is working to locate missing Americans, fight terrorism and drug trafficking and establish security in the region.
On Monday, Assad's successor is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Since Syria's independence in 1946, no president of the country has been received in Washington for a government visit.
UN sanctions also lifted
The UN Security Council already lifted sanctions against Al-Sharaa and his interior minister on Thursday. A resolution introduced by the USA was adopted almost unanimously with 14 votes in favor, only China abstained. The two members of the government were previously on the Security Council's international sanctions list due to previous links to the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The US delegation saw the vote as a signal for a new political beginning in Syria after Assad's fall last year.
