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May 15, 2025

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An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Exclusive

Syrian Kurdish negotiator Yusuf: No agreement yet with Damascus on Tishreen Dam

President Donald Trump’s meeting with Syria’s interim president has sparked Kurdish fears of being sidelined in future talks.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks adjusts his earpiece during bilateral talks with the US President the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023.

Erdogan thanks Trump for ‘historic’ Syria decision during Sharaa meeting

The Turkish president also said his country was ready to support Damascus in the fight against the Islamic State and in maintaining the security of ISIS camps.

audi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L), US President Donald Trump (C) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) pose for a photo in Riyadh on May 14, 2025.

Trump to Syria's Sharaa: Recognize Israel, expel foreign fighters

During their 30-minute meeting in Riyadh, the two leaders also discussed combating the Islamic State and future American investment in Syrian oil and gas.

People celebrate in Damascus' Omeyyad square after US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions in Syria, on May 13, 2025. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump wants to lift all US sanctions on Syria: Can he?

Removing some sanctions on Syria could require congressional action, and one expert warned that rescinding all the measures could decrease the US’ leverage with the new government in Damascus.

Adam Lucente

By Rosaleen Carroll , Adam Lucente

Latest News

Analysis

A first in 15 years, Rubio to meet Syria’s FM in Turkey: What to know

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attend a bilateral meeting between the US President and Saudi Crown Prince in Riyadh on May 13, 2025.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Trump to lift Syria sanctions, meet with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia

President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a “coffee ceremony” at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Jordan, Turkey, Syria FMs slam 'Israeli expansionism' after Ankara meeting

Smoke billows near a military hospital in Harasta, northeast Damascus, following Israeli airstrikes across Syria overnight on May 3, 2025.

Exclusive

Syria's Sharaa pledges to form task force for missing Americans

Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, signs the country's constitutional declaration, which will be enforced throughout a five-year transitional period, at the presidential palace in Damascus on March 13, 2025.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Pentagon Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Security and emergency personnel search the rubble of a building destroyed in a reported Israeli strike in Damascus on January 20, 2024. An Israeli strike on Damascus killed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' intelligence chief for Syria and three other Guards members on January 20, Iran said, in an attack that tore into a multi-storey residential building. (Photo by Louai BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel carries out strikes in Syria targeting south Damascus: government

A number of Iranian IRGC members have been killed in strikes in Syria attributed to Israel in recent weeks.

US soldiers participate in the annual military exercises known as "Eager Lion", near Maan some 200 kilometres south of the capital Amman on May 17, 2017.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 29, 2024, 4:45 pm

3 US troops killed, 25 wounded in Iran-backed drone attack in Jordan

President Joe Biden has vowed to respond after US troops were killed by a suspected Iran-backed militia for first time since Israel's war in Gaza began.

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand near a US Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) during a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Sept. 7, 2022.

Pentagon floats plan for its Syrian Kurd allies to partner with Assad against ISIS

The proposal, which the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces denounced as a "rotten plan," comes as part of a renewed review of Syria policy by the US State Department.

Two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) armed military personnel are monitoring an area while standing guard next to an Iranian Majid anti-aircraft missile system during the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 16, 2024, 8:18 am

Iran’s IRGC strikes 'spy centers' in Iraq with ballistic missiles

The IRGC also said it struck Syria in response to the recent ISIS attack in Iran.

Smokes billows in Qamishli in northeastern Syria close to the Turkish border on Dec. 25, 2023, amid Turkish military strikes in the area.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 13, 2024, 2:36 pm

Turkey launches retaliatory strikes in Syria & Iraq, Erdogan convenes security meeting

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold an emergency national security meeting on Saturday.

Volunteers unload a truck as a convoy carrying humanitarian aid arrives in Syria after crossing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Syria extends humanitarian aid deliveries via Turkey to rebel-held zone

The crossing is the sole artery for UN supplies for the rebel-held northwest of the country.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP via Getty Images

As Captagon war heats up, Jordan escalates airstrikes in Syria

Jordan has clashed with and struck alleged drug smugglers several times in recent weeks as the Captagon trade continues to thrive the region.

Hatira, a Saluki who runs “like a bullet,” in Aliyaa, Syria on Nov. 22, 2023.

Syrian Kurdish village breeds ancient Saluki dogs amid ravages of war

Wealthy Arabs from the Gulf — sheikhs, emirs and princes included — are some of the top customers of Syria's Saluki breeders.

A metal cutout of an Israeli soldier at an army post in Mount Bental near the Syrian border in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on February 9, 2022. - Israel launched strikes against targets in Syria early today, hitting anti-aircraft batteries in response to a missile fired from Syria, the military said. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel launches strikes in Syria, Lebanon, targets 'Hezbollah infrastructure'

The airstrikes near Damascus follow the Christmas Day death of a top Iranian commander in Syria in a strike widely attributed to Israel.

A vehicle of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is pictured along a road as fighters deploy to impose a curfew in the town of al-Busayrah in Syria's northeastern Deir Ezzor province on September 4, 2023, during a guided media tour organised by the SDF. Days of deadly clashes between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and local fighters have rocked Deir Ezzor, threatening a fragile balance in the strategic area.

Suspected Islamic State attack leaves nine dead in Syrian desert

Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters in eastern Syria came under a surprise attack attributed to the Islamic State, which remains active in the area despite losing territory.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Syrian President Bashar Assad during the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Saudi Press Agency / Saudi Press Agency via AP

2023 in review: Syria triumphant in Arab League as Israeli strikes, Iran ties continue

Coming in from the cold, Damascus — still riddled with economic challenges and Western sanctions — restored crucial relations with Saudi Arabia and the Arab League, fortifying its regional position after being frozen out for over a decade.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander tells Washington not to sell F-16s to Turkey

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, SDF commander-in-chief Mazlum Kobane called on the United States to shore up flagging Kurdish faith in Washington and block any new F-16 sales to Turkey.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief