Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrives at the plenary session of leaders, as part of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), in Belém, in the state of Pará (Brazil), on Nov. 6, 2025. (Credit: Mauro Pimentel/AFP)
NEW YORK — The United Nations Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday.
Sharaa, who has been leading a campaign of international diplomacy in an attempt to get his country back on its feet following 13 years of civil war, is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
The U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab. It received 14 votes in favor, while China abstained.
Washington has been urging the 15-member Security Council for months to ease Syria sanctions. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by a coalition of rebel forces led by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al-Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the U.N. Security Council's al-Qaeda and Islamic State group sanctions list.
A number of HTS members are also under U.N. sanctions — a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo — including its leader Sharaa, and Khattab.
Trump announced a major U.S. policy shift in May when he said he would lift U.S. sanctions on Syria. United Nations sanctions monitors have seen no "active ties" this year between al-Qaeda and HTS, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters in July.
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