Sharaa, whose forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad late last year, is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The visit marks the first by a Syrian head of state to the United States since the country’s independence in 1946, analysts said.

The interim Syrian leader previously met Trump in Riyadh in May during the U.S. president’s regional tour.

Washington’s envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that Sharaa was expected to sign an agreement for Syria to join the international U.S.-led coalition against the Daesh (Islamic State) group.

According to a diplomatic source in Damascus, the United States also plans to establish a military base near the Syrian capital “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel.”

Delisting and Diplomatic Shifts

The U.S. State Department’s decision to remove Sharaa from the terrorism blacklist on Friday had been widely anticipated.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had made progress in addressing key American demands, including cooperation on locating missing U.S. citizens and eliminating any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles.

“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.

He added that removing Sharaa from the blacklist would promote “regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”

Crackdown on Daesh

Syria’s interior ministry announced on Saturday that it had carried out 61 raids and made 71 arrests in a “proactive campaign to neutralize the threat” of Daesh, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

The ministry said the operations targeted suspected Islamic State sleeper cells across several provinces, including Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Damascus.

Following his arrival in Washington, Sharaa met with representatives of Syrian community organizations in the U.S. capital, Syrian media reported.

In a lighthearted moment ahead of his departure, Syrian Foreign Minister posted a video on social media showing Sharaa playing basketball with U.S. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert, head of the international anti-Daesh coalition in Iraq, with the caption: “Work hard, play harder.”

From Rebel Commander to Statesman

Sharaa’s visit to Washington follows his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in September — his first trip to U.S. soil — where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the assembly in New York.

On Thursday, the U.S. led a Security Council vote to lift U.N. sanctions against him.

Once affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa formerly led the militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which was delisted as a terrorist organization by Washington in July.

Since seizing power, Syria’s new leadership has sought to distance itself from its extremist roots and project a more moderate, internationally acceptable image.

“The White House visit is further testament to the U.S. commitment to the new Syria and a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, U.S. Program Director at the International Crisis Group.

Reconstruction Challenges Ahead

Sharaa is expected to seek international funding for Syria’s post-war reconstruction during his visit. The country faces enormous economic and humanitarian challenges after 13 years of civil conflict.

In October, the World Bank estimated the cost of rebuilding Syria at a “conservative best estimate” of $216 billion.

As Washington and Damascus cautiously rebuild diplomatic ties, Sharaa’s visit signals what many observers see as a historic turning point — both for Syria’s reemergence on the world stage and for a region long defined by conflict and isolation.

Britain’s UN envoy, Barbara Wood, said the Council acted according to Resolution 2231, emphasizing that the snapback process is designed to ensure transparency and accountability. “The Council is committed to maintaining international norms while keeping avenues for dialogue open,” she said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed the country’s commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, assuring that Iran will continue to be transparent about its enriched uranium stockpiles. “Iran will never seek nuclear weapons, and we are fully prepared to cooperate with UN inspectors,” Pezeshkian stated.

The European powers, collectively the E3, along with the United States, reiterated that diplomatic engagement remains a priority. Talks are expected to continue to encourage Iran’s collaboration with UN nuclear inspectors, promote peaceful nuclear development, and address any remaining compliance issues.

Despite the vote, global diplomats view the current situation as an opportunity to strengthen communication channels and reinforce shared commitment to international peace and security. Iran has recalled its ambassadors to Germany, France, and the UK temporarily for consultations, a standard diplomatic measure reflecting proactive engagement with its international partners.

Experts note that reimposing sanctions within a structured, multilateral framework supports accountability while leaving space for negotiation. The international community continues to emphasize that dialogue, transparency, and cooperation remain critical tools in managing global nuclear governance and promoting long-term stability.

The fate of a fragile 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers hinges on the result of the U.S. presidential election in November, not a planned U.S. bid this week to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Tehran, said several Iranian officials.

When Iran agreed to sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program, Tehran warned that it would no longer stick to the deal if any of the parties sparked a so-called snapback of sanctions at the U.N. Security Council, a backstop included in the accord in case Iran stopped complying.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration plans this week to use that snapback provision, even though it quit the deal in 2018 and the move is opposed by the remaining parties to the accord – Germany, Britain, France, Russia, China and Iran.

But despite Tehran’s declaration five years ago, three senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran’s leadership is determined to remain committed to the nuclear deal, hoping that a victory by Trump’s political rival Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 presidential election will salvage the pact.

“Right now the decision is to remain in the deal even if Americans make their biggest mistake of triggering the snapback mechanism,” said a senior official, on condition of anonymity, who is involved in the discussions about Iran’s nuclear policy.

“We will be still here, but Trump might not be at the White House in a few months,” the official said.

Biden has said he would rejoin the nuclear deal, but only if Iran first returned to compliance. The accord was agreed by former U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, when Biden was vice president.

A second Iranian official – a former nuclear negotiator – said Iran was “technically and politically” ready to quit.

“But we have to be smart and not to fall in the U.S. trap which wants to push Iran out of the deal,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Enormous Leverage

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described the next few weeks and months as critical for the nuclear deal.

To trigger a return if all U.N. sanctions on Iran the United States will submit a complaint to the 15-member Security Council about Iran’s non-compliance with the nuclear deal.

In response to what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign – a bid to get Iran to negotiate a new deal – Tehran has breached several central limits of the 2015 deal, including on its stock of enriched uranium.

But diplomats say the snapback process will be tough and messy as Russia, China and other countries on the Security Council challenge the legality of the U.S. move given Washington itself is no longer complying with what Trump called “worst deal ever” and has imposed strong unilateral sanctions on Iran.

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. move to spark a return of all U.N. sanctions would risk “destroying” the nuclear deal, but “it will be a completely contested procedure so the snapback will have no effect, it will not be recognized by others.”

The United States argues it can trigger the return of the sanctions because it is still named as a participant to the nuclear deal in a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that enshrines the agreement.

A second European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “the overwhelming majority of the international community” believe the United States cannot trigger snapback.

Outgoing U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook said on Tuesday that the nuclear deal, while well intentioned, had failed to deter Iran.

“We have put in place enormous leverage for a (Trump) second term to get the kind of outcomes that we’re going to need,” he told a United Against Nuclear Iran think tank event.