Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for what has been described as a landmark official visit, the first by a Syrian head of state since the country gained independence in 1946, according to analysts. The visit follows Washington’s decision a day earlier to remove Sharaa from its terrorism blacklist, a move seen as signalling a dramatic thaw in relations between the two nations.
Sharaa, whose rebel-led coalition toppled long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The two leaders previously met in Riyadh during Trump’s regional tour in May.
Earlier this month, US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said he was hopeful that Sharaa would sign an agreement to join the international US-led coalition against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group. A diplomatic source in Damascus told AFP that Washington was also planning to establish a military base near the Syrian capital “to coordinate humanitarian assistance and monitor developments along the Syria–Israel frontier.”
The State Department’s decision to delist Sharaa was widely anticipated. Spokesman Tommy Pigott said the move recognised “the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than fifty years of repression under the Assad regime.” He noted that the interim government in Damascus had met a range of US demands, including efforts to locate missing American nationals and dismantle the country’s remaining chemical weapons capabilities.
Pigott added that the delisting would contribute to “regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”
Meanwhile, Syria’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that it had launched 61 raids and arrested 71 people in what it described as a “proactive campaign to neutralise the threat” of IS. The operations targeted suspected IS hideouts in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Damascus, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Following his arrival in the United States, President Sharaa shared a short video on social media showing him playing basketball with CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert, head of the international anti-IS operation in Iraq. The post was accompanied by the caption: “Work hard, play harder.”
Sharaa’s visit to Washington marks another milestone in his remarkable political journey. In September, he made his first-ever appearance on US soil to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he became the first Syrian president in decades to speak before the world body.
On Thursday, Washington led a UN Security Council vote to lift sanctions against him, further cementing his international rehabilitation.
Once affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s former group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was removed from the US list of terrorist organisations as recently as July. Since assuming office, Syria’s new leadership has sought to distance itself from its militant past and to project an image of moderation aimed at winning the confidence of both the Syrian public and the international community.
“The White House invitation is a powerful signal of Washington’s commitment to the new Syria,” said Michael Hanna, US Programme Director at the International Crisis Group. “It marks a profoundly symbolic moment for a leader who has undergone a dramatic transformation — from a battlefield commander to a global statesman.”
During his stay in Washington, Sharaa is also expected to lobby for reconstruction assistance for Syria, which continues to grapple with the monumental task of rebuilding after more than thirteen years of devastating civil conflict.
In October, the World Bank estimated the cost of Syria’s reconstruction at a “conservative best estimate” of $216 billion, underscoring the scale of the challenges ahead for the war-torn nation.