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September 22, 2025

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City on Sept. 22, 2025.

In UN spotlight, Syria’s Sharaa meets Rubio in New York

Ahmed al-Sharaa is set to become the first Syrian president since 1967 to address the annual United Nations summit.

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

Latest News

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

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

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.

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

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian Kurds, opposition take cases to Washington

Delegations from Kurdish-held northeast Syria and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Coalition will meet separately with US officials this week.

Idlib violence

Syrian government eyes control of key highway in northwest

Increased military movements by government forces and Russia near the Idlib fronts and the strategic M4 highway indicate that the battle against the Turkey-supported opposition may be drawing near.

AFP via Getty Images

Northwest Syria closes schools, markets to slow virus spread

The Salvation Government affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria’s Idlib province closed schools and popular markets amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow on Sept. 13, 2021.

Syrian officials, SDF look to Russia for support against Turkey

Opposition group granted 'positive' meeting in Moscow as all sides wait to learn next US move in the region.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

UN says at least 350K killed in Syria’s war, 'certainly an undercount'

The United Nations' human rights office on Friday updated the death toll from Syria's civil war for the first time since August 2014.

A man carries away a girl who was injured during aerial bombardment at a camp for displaced Syrians near the town of Kafraya in the north of Syria's rebel-held Idlib province on Sept. 7, 2021.

Russia intensifies Idlib attacks ahead of summit with Turkey, Iran on Syria

Some believe that the Russian escalation in Syria’s Idlib is either a prelude to a major assault or a means of increasing pressure on Turkey.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Two children die every week at Syria's al-Hol camp, charity says

Fires are among the leading cause of death among children of suspected Islamic State fighters who are stranded in the al-Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria.

Ethan Goldrich, the US charge d'affaires in the United Arab Emirates is pictured on Aug. 28, 2021 in Abu Dhabi as refugees who fled Afghanistan after the takeover of their country by the Taliban were gathering at the International Humanitarian City (IHC) in the Emirati capital, waiting to be transferred to another destination.

Biden administration appoints new Syria policy chief

Ethan Goldrich will take over for Aimee Cutrona as Washington's point person for Syria engagement, but there's no sign of a new approach by the Biden administration.

This picture taken on Sept. 20, 2021 shows a view of vehicle destroyed by what is believed to be a drone strike, on the northeastern outskirts of Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib.

Pentagon says drone strike near Syria's Idlib targeted al-Qaeda official

CENTCOM fired a drone missile at at least one jihadi official near Idlib today in the first such strike in recent months.

A picture shows a view of the closed Jaber/Nassib border post at Jordan's border with Syria, on Aug. 1, 2021.

Syria's defense chief visits Jordan to discuss border security

State media outlets reported that Syrian Gen. Ali Ayoub and Jordanian Gen. Yousef Huneiti met in Amman to discuss the situation along the border following the fighting in Daraa.

A Syrian woman walks by tents at a camp for the internally displaced, near the town of Kafr Lusin, Idlib province, Syria, Jan. 19, 2021.

Massive displacement wave amid fears of renewed battles in Idlib

The Syrian opposition is getting ready for a possible attack by Syrian government forces in Idlib, following increasingly intense bombing and reconnaissance attacks since the beginning of September.

A picture shows the entrance to the Directorate of Health in the rebel-held northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Sept. 13, 2021. Cases of Covid-19 have increased alarmingly over the past month in Syria's rebel-controlled northern region of Idlib, local authorities said today.

Northwest Syria running low on COVID-19 tests, oxygen amid conflict

The International Rescue Committee said coronavirus cases are increasing dramatically in the war-torn rebel territory.