The UN Security Council has lifted sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa ahead of his upcoming visit to the United States next week, officials said on Friday.
“The Security Council is sending a strong political message across the region that comes with recognition of a new era in Syria post-Assad’s removal from the country,” US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said after Thursday's vote. The resolution, drafted by the United States, also lifted sanctions on the Syrian interior Minister Anas Khattab.
Fourteen of the 15 UNSC members voted in favour of the resolution, while China, which had extended diplomatic backing to Al-Assad during the 13-year-long civil war, abstained.
The US announced a policy change on Syria in May this year and has been urging the UNSC to ease sanctions on the country. Al-Sharaa is set to visit the White House on Monday, making him the first Syrian president to do so since the Arab country's independence in 1946.
The two leaders had been on the UNSC blacklist due to their links with the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, which operated under the code name of the Al-Nusra Front. Expressing gratitude to the US, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also thanked "friendly countries" for their support.
"Once again, and not for the last time, Syrian diplomacy reaffirms its active presence and its ability to achieve progress with steady steps…," he said in a post on X.
Since Al-Assad’s removal from the post, peace has been restored in large parts of the country. Though incidents of ethnic violence have erupted in recent months, particularly in Druze-dominated Suwayda province. Representatives from the UK, Russia, France and Pakistan called it an important step towards Syria's economic recovery and support for the political transition.
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