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Syria

September 22, 2025

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets in New York City with a delegation from the Syrian community in the United States, Sept. 22, 2025.

Sharaa’s New York blitz: Syria seeks economic revival in first UN visit in 58 years

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is in New York on a landmark visit during which he will address the UN General Assembly as he seeks to break Syria’s isolation.

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.

Latest News

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

UMIT BEKTAS/AFP via Getty Images

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.

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

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish-backed Syrian groups pursue drug operations in Aleppo

The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army is reportedly cracking down on drug dealers in the Aleppo countryside.

Syria Pedersen

'Big disappointment': Syrian constitutional negotiations fail again

UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said the Syrian government's side did not present a new proposal as previously agreed.

A member of security of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard in the countryside of the Hasakah province, on June 27, 2020.

Turkey tells Syrian opposition forces to increase military readiness

The timing and extent of the anticipated operation against Syrian Kurdish forces are still uncertain and will likely depend on Ankara’s weighing of tradeoffs with Washington and Moscow.

Gasoline prices are displayed in Turkish lira at a gas station in the town of Sarmada in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, on June 15, 2020.

Protests break out in Syrian city controlled by jihadist faction

Protests erupted in Idlib against the Syrian Salvation Government, affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, amid high inflation and deteriorating living conditions.

Syria US soldier

US base in Syria hit in suspected drone attack

The remote Tanf outpost has been quiet for years, but Iran's pinprick provocations may once again be targeting the base, which plays a key role in Washington’s effort to obstruct Tehran's influence.

A Syrian fighter with Turkey-backed forces is pictured on a road between the northern Syrian towns of Tell Abyad and Kobani on October 22, 2019.

Suspected Turkish drone strike targets three people in Syrian Kurdish town

Turkey's latest strike comes on the four-year anniversary of the Kurdish fighters' capture of Raqqa from the Islamic State.

CHRISTINA ASSI/AFP via Getty Images

Refugees returning to Syria face reprisals from government

The rights organization documented arrest, arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of abuse among Syrian refugees who returned to their home country from Lebanon and Jordan.

Displaced Syrian women walk at a camp in Kafr Lusin village on the border with Turkey in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, March 10, 2020.

Female volunteers in northwestern Syria raise awareness of breast cancer

Volunteers raise breast cancer awareness among women in opposition areas in northwestern Syria, where access to health care is limited.

Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend the funeral of an Arab fighter.

Ankara-backed Syrian forces 'fully prepared' for Turkish operation

Turkey has threatened to launch a military operation against the SDF in the wake of attacks carried out by the latter in north Syria.

Turkish and Syrian students prepare food in a kitchen,. as part of the "Mutfakta Umut Var - Hope in the Kitchen" project attended by Turkish and Syrian youths, Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 8, 2020.

EU looks to boost Syrian businesses in Turkey

Many Syrian refugees are working in Turkey without work permits, and the European Union is trying to support their small businesses.

Turkish and Russian military vehicles patrol in the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border, on Sept. 16, 2021.

Erdogan’s latest threats in Syria test limits with Biden, Putin

The Turkish president’s warnings are targeted as much at Washington and Moscow as they are at Syria’s Kurds.

A picture shows destruction following Syrian government shelling in Idlib, Syria's last major rebel stronghold, Sept. 8, 2021.

Syrian jihadist group, Turkish-backed opposition reportedly consider merger

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition factions have reportedly received instructions to deploy in Idlib soon, amid reports that a merger with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is imminent.