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Syria

September 23, 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

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish airstrike kills members of US-backed Kurdish force in Syria

A Turkish airstrike has killed four members of a US-backed Syrian Kurdish force.

Jihadis of former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham block demonstrators from approaching the Bab al-Hawa crossing.

Uzbek fighters complicate makeover campaign by jihadi group in Idlib

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant jihad group in Idlib, is seeking distance from the actions of Uzbek foreign fighters.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: Faith, civic leaders call on Biden to prioritize ending Syria's war

In a letter to President Joe Biden, a group of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders called for the administration to adopt “a resolute, diplomacy-first" policy on Syria.

Displaced Syrian children run with a cutout of horseheads during the so-called "Camp Olympics 2020."

Displaced Syrian children take part in alternative Olympics camp

A local rights organization in northern Syria held an Olympics competition for children living in the displaced camps across the area, in conjunction with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

A Syrian woman carries a container of water provided by UNICEF in the northeastern city of Hasakah, after disruption in water supply from the Alouk station, Syria, July 8, 2021.

Syrian Islamist opposition leader slammed for misogynist remarks

Osama al-Rifai, head of the Turkish-backed Syrian Islamic Council, was criticized by secular opposition figures for his recent remarks about Syrian women.

Syrian police show seized drugs at the Drug Enforcement Administration, Damascus, Syria, Jan. 4, 2016.

Drug use surges in opposition-controlled areas in northwest Syria

Security forces in the countryside of Aleppo are combating the spread of narcotic substances, amid growing demands for cooperation by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions.

closed Jaber/Nassib border post as a result of Daraa flare-up

UN Syria envoy urges end to 'siege-like' situation in Daraa

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Syrian civilians living under a government siege in the southwestern city are suffering from shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

2018 Tice press conference

Biden administration calls on Syria to return missing journalist Austin Tice

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the United States is committed to "following all avenues and talking to anyone" who can help return Tice, a journalist and Marine veteran who disappeared in Syria nine years ago.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian jihadi group in Idlib goes after gas stations

Security forces affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forced gas stations to close in areas controlled by Turkish-backed factions and set up a temporary checkpoint there.

A general view shows men standing outside the Sultan Daraya restaurant in the rebel-controlled northern city of Idlib, Syria, July 1, 2017.

How Syrian jihadi group is laundering money in Idlib

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leaders in Idlib are investing their money in various economic sectors, as part of money laundering operations to control resources and economic activity in their areas of control.

A Russian army soldier patrols the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on May 5, 2016.

Russia's new twist in Syria policy: Restore archaeological sites

Russia is restoring several archaeological sites in Syria, which many Syrians believe aims to polish the Russian presence in Syria and portray it as not a military or political presence but rather a humanitarian one.

2018 scene of Daraa destruction

Syrian government forces clash with opposition in Daraa

Is war returning to Daraa?