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September 19, 2025

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Israeli troops patrol the border fence with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights, July 23, 2025.

Analysis

Seeking leeway on Gaza, Netanyahu backs Trump’s Syria pact push

The US is working intensively to arrange a historic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Syrian President Sharaa on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Analysis

From Palestine push to Sharaa’s UN debut: What to watch at UN summit

The annual international get-together will feature a wave of Palestinian statehood recognition, the Syrian president’s United Nations debut and possible 11th-hour diplomacy with Iran.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen addresses a press conference in Damascus on Jan. 22, 2025.

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen steps down after six years

Pedersen is leaving as Syria continues to grapple with political upheaval, humanitarian crises and ongoing conflict.

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.

Latest News

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Top US general discusses SDF integration with Sharaa in Damascus

CENTCOM

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

Raisi syria

Iranian president’s visit to Syria sends message ahead of Arab League vote

While Raisi claims leadership for Iran in keeping Assad in power, his foreign minister’s book offers background and insights into Iran’s Syria policy.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) speaks with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Damascus on May 3, 2023. - Raisi congratulated al-Assad on May 3 for "achieving victory" in the country's 12-year-long civil war, in which Tehran has been a major ally. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria, Iran expand agreements, praise China after Assad-Raisi meeting

Syria and Iran signed a number of agreements during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s historic visit and Raisi invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Iran.

A Turkish Bayraktar TB2 combat drone is on view during a presentation at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on July 6, 2022.

Turkey’s drones are killing Kurdish children in northeast Syria

Turkey's drone campaign to undermine Kurdish rule in Syria continues unabated, with children paying a heavy price.

Arab League ambassadors gather for an emergency meeting in Cairo on April 5, 2023,

Arab League calls emergency meeting on crisis in Sudan, readmitting Syria

The Arab League will address Syria's readmittance to the alliance and the ongoing violence in Sudan.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's president meets Palestinian Hamas, Islamic Jihad leaders in Syria

The meeting between Raisi and Palestinian officials comes days after Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel in response to the death of Islamic Jihad prisoner Khader Adnan.

Kobane

Syria’s Kurds turn to UAE to ease tensions with Assad

An alleged trip to the UAE capital by Syrian Democratic Forces chief Mazloum Kobane, which Emirati officials deny, came just before he was targeted by a Turkish drone last month.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, on the right, received his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi at the presidential palace in Damascus on May 3, 2023

Iran's President Raisi meets Assad in Syria, first such visit in 13 years

The two countries are expected to sign several economic agreements in a show of friendship.

An exterior view of the building of US Department of the Treasury is seen on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

US, Turkey blacklist Syrian militants' financial facilitators

The new sanctions target members of US-designated terrorist groups Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad.

The silhouette of an Israeli soldier is outlined in the sky by a flare fired to search for a rocket that landed near Kibbutz Meitsar in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights, April 9, 2023. - Israel launched artillery strikes on Syria early morning on April 8 after several rockets were fired from there and landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel's retaliatory strike to rocket attacks from Syria -- which no one has claimed -- is the latest episode in escalating violence in the region. (Photo by JALA

Israel carries out airstrikes in Aleppo, Syria: local media

The incident near Aleppo followed suspected Israeli strikes on a Hezbollah center in central Syria over the weekend, and as Arab foreign ministers meet in Jordan to normalize relations with Assad.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

US does not confirm Turkey’s claim of killing Islamic State leader in Syria

The US administration said it had no information to support Ankara’s claim to have killed the Islamic State leader.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L), Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (R) arrive for a regional meeting on Syria, in Amman on May 1, 2023. - Arab foreign ministers will gather in Jordan on May 1, to discuss Syria's long-running conflict and ending Damascus's diplomatic isolation in the region, the foreign ministry in Amman said. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP v

Jordan hosts meeting to facilitate Syria’s return to Arab League

Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq are meeting in Jordan as Syria’s political reintegration into the Arab world accelerates.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in Damascus on April 18, 2023.

Syria's Arab League return still uncertain, even as Assad normalization continues

The Saudi-led tide of normalization with Syrian President Assad may end his regional isolation, but just on a diplomatic level for now.