The UN Security Council has voted to remove international sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, approving a US-drafted resolution by 14 votes to none, with China abstaining. The decision delists the two officials from the ISIL and al‑Qaeda sanctions regime and lifts an assets freeze and an arms embargo tied to that listing.
Council members described the delisting as largely symbolic: in practice, sanctions had routinely been waived to allow al‑Sharaa to travel abroad in his capacity as Syria’s leader. Nonetheless, the formal UN action clears a diplomatic obstacle ahead of a planned visit by al‑Sharaa to Washington next week — the first trip by a Syrian president to the US since Syria’s independence in 1946.
Background
Al‑Sharaa came to power after leading opposition fighters who toppled President Bashar al‑Assad’s government in December. His group, Hayat Tahrir al‑Sham (HTS), launched an offensive on November 27, 2024 that reached Damascus in about 12 days and brought an end to more than five decades of rule by the al‑Assad family. HTS had been on the UN ISIL and al‑Qaeda sanctions list since May 2014.
Since taking office, al‑Sharaa has repeatedly urged the United States to formally lift sanctions on him and on Syria, arguing that measures imposed on the previous leadership are no longer justified. In May, US President Donald Trump met al‑Sharaa in Riyadh and ordered most US sanctions to be lifted. However, the strictest US measures — those enacted by Congress under the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act — remain in place and would require congressional action to be repealed permanently.
US Congressional reaction and next steps
Ahead of the UN vote, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, issued a bipartisan statement welcoming the Security Council decision and urging Congress to act. They said they are “actively working with the administration and our colleagues in Congress to repeal Caesar sanctions,” framing repeal as necessary to support reconstruction, stability and a path forward for Syrians.
Diplomatic implications
Al‑Sharaa’s expected Washington visit marks a significant diplomatic opening between the United States and the new Syrian leadership. While Israel and Syria remain technically at war — and Israel continues to occupy the Golan Heights — the Trump administration has expressed hope that normalisation between the two countries could be possible.
What remains unsettled
Even with the UN delisting and recent US executive actions, full removal of all sanctions on Syria hinges on congressional approval to lift the Caesar Act provisions. Economic and political questions about reconstruction, accountability and how to engage with groups once designated for ties to extremist organisations will remain central to debates in Washington and among Syria’s international partners.