Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, during a meeting in Damascus on Aug. 7, 2025. (Credit: AFP/Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa is set to take part in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September in New York, an official from the Foreign Ministry told AFP on Monday.
“Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will participate in the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will deliver a speech,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “He will be the first Syrian president to speak at the United Nations since former President Noureddine al-Atassi in 1967, and the first Syrian president to take part in the Assembly’s high-level week, scheduled for Sept. 22-30.”
Confirmation of Sharaa’s speech comes as a growing number of regional media reports suggest the possibility of a “security agreement” being signed between Damascus and Tel Aviv on the sidelines of the Assembly.
Sharaa came to power after an Islamist-led coalition overthrew former leader Bashar al-Assad in December following nearly 14 years of civil war. Since he took office, the new Syrian authorities have received regional and international support. Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani addressed the U.N. in April and raised the country’s new flag at the organization’s headquarters in New York.
Because of his past as a former wanted jihadist, Sharaa remains under U.N. sanctions and a travel ban, and must request a waiver for any foreign travel. He met with U.S. President Donald Trump in May, a week after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris during his first trip to the West.
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