Syrian foreign minister meets US officials in Washington

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Treasury and State department officials held talks Thursday in Washington with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, the Treasury Department announced.

“Treasury is working with Syria to responsibly and safely reconnect its economy to the global financial system while combating the financing of terrorism,” it said in a post on the US social media company X.

Those present in the meeting included US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack; senior Treasury officials; Qutaiba Idlbi, director of American affairs at the Syrian Foreign Ministry and other members of Shaibani’s delegation.

The visit marks the first by a Syrian foreign minister to the US in more than 25 years.

According to a US news outlet, Axios, the Syrian minister is set to hold talks with US senators to discuss the permanent lifting of Caesar sanctions on Syria.

The talks come as Damascus seeks the permanent lifting of US sanctions that remain in effect despite recent easing measures. Much of the sanctions stems from the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which sanctioned the Assad government for war crimes during the civil war.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order June 30 to terminate the US sanctions program on Syria, though sanctions tied to human rights violations, chemical weapons activity and drug trafficking remain.

The move followed Trump’s May 2025 announcement at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia that he would lift the “brutal and crippling” Syria sanctions. One day later, he held a landmark meeting in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first between US and Syrian leaders in 25 years.

Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly a quarter century, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, marking the end of the Baath Party’s decades-long rule, which began in 1963.

Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces that ousted Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.