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Syria

September 18, 2025

Damascus 6:53 pm

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UMIT BEKTAS/AFP via Getty Images

In first visit in 25 years, Syrian FM pushes sanctions relief in Washington

Asaad al-Shibani’s visit to Washington comes as Syria seeks sanctions relief and engages in US-mediated talks with Israel on a security agreement.

Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022.

Turkey’s spy chief in Damascus as Israel, Syria weigh new security map

Ibrahim Kalin’s visit comes as Israel presses Syria on a buffer zone plan and Turkey frets over Kurdish autonomy.

Bedouin and tribal fighters deploy at the western entrance of Syria's Druze heartland of Suwayda on July 18, 2025.

Syria, Jordan, US unveil road map to stabilize Suwayda after clashes: What to know

The news comes along with reports that Syria has withdrawn heavy weaponry from the south, seemingly complying with Israel's demands for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria.

Interim Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa appears in the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria, on May 27, 2025.

Syria holds first post‑Assad parliamentary vote: What to know

Syria’s first post-Assad parliamentary elections — with seats chosen by local committees rather than a public vote — spark backlash as the government postpones voting in Druze- and Kurdish-majority regions.

Latest News

Top US general discusses SDF integration with Sharaa in Damascus

CENTCOM

Syria claims Hezbollah cell plotting attacks arrested in Damascus: What we know

Syria

Russia sends second Syria delegation since Assad’s fall to safeguard military interests

His Excellency the President of the Republic, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meets at the People's Palace in the capital, Damascus, with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak.

After sanctions, GitHub reopens to Syrian coders in boost for digital revival

A photo illustration shows a laptop screen displays welcome screens and messages on the Github developer platform website, on February 23, 2024 in London, England.

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

Members of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walk in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Nov. 15, 2019.

Turkish strike kills 3 members of Kurdish-allied Christian force in northeast Syria

Wednesday's drone strikes are in line with Turkey’s ongoing campaign to degrade and destroy the SDF and the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.

UWAYDA24/AFP via Getty Images

Syria: One killed in Suwayda as protests resume against Assad government

The death marks the first time a protester has been killed since the protests in Suwayda began last year over Syria’s dire economic situation.

People check the damage on a building reportedly hit in an Israeli air strike in the Kafr Sousa district of the Syrian capital Damascus on February 21, 2024. At least two people were killed on February 21 in an Israeli attack on Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian state media.

Syria says Israel behind multiple attacks in Damascus, at least 3 killed

The strikes occurred in a district close to housing state security agencies.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Russia sets up observation points in Syria near Golan Heights

New Russian observation posts have popped up in southwest Syria amid increased tensions between pro-Iranian groups and Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war.

An ambulance leaves from Santa Maria Church as anti-riot police officers block the street after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 28, 2024.

How and why ISIS-K has resurged in Turkey

The latest attack on an Istanbul church signals the militant group’s resurgence in Turkey.

A man walks past a poster of President Bashar al-Assad, a candidate in the presidential election, Damascus, Syria, May 17, 2021.

Congress pushes White House to toughen anti-Assad policy

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation meant to combat the normalization of Syria's long-shunned regime.

Smoke billows from an Israeli airstrike as flares fall on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, near the border with Israel, Jan. 19, 2024.

Suspected Israeli strikes in Syria amid escalation with Hezbollah in Lebanon

A Hezbollah commander in Lebanon was injured in an Israeli strike as foreign diplomats worked to de-escalate tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Salih Muslim, the diplomatic relations official for the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society, and the former co-chairman of the main Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party (PYD), speaks during an interview in his office on August 2, 2018.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim warns of 'forceful response' to Iran-linked attacks

Muslim's spoke to Al-Monitor two days after an attack on an SDF training camp in Deir Ezzor by Iran-backed militias left six dead.

Salih Muslim

Salih Muslim

PYD co-chairman

A Royal Air Force Typhoon FRG4s is being prepared to conduct further strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen at RAF Akrotiri on Feb. 3, 2024.

Pentagon vows more strikes against Iran-backed groups, rejects open-ended campaign

The Pentagon says it isn't planning for an open-ended campaign of retaliation against Iran-backed groups, even as Israel vows to expand its war in Gaza on to the Rafah area.

A vehicle of the Syrian Democratic Forces is pictured along a road as fighters deploy to impose a curfew in the town of al-Busayrah during a guided media tour organized by the SDF, in northeastern Deir ez-Zor province, Syria, Sept. 4, 2023.

6 Kurdish SDF forces killed in Iran-linked attack on Syria base housing US troops

The drone attack left at least six dead among the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Jared Elizabeth US-Iran proxy webinar

US confrontation with Iran’s proxies: Live Q&A with Jared Szuba and Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Gulf thaw with Syria gains steam: UAE sends envoy, Saudi diplomats plan visit

The reports about the Saudi visit come after the UAE’s first ambassador to Syria in more than a decade took up his post.