UN approves US-backed effort to lift sanctions on Syria’s president

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The U.N. Security Council voted Thursday to lift a series of sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and members of his government days before he is set to arrive in the U.S. for a historic visit to the White House.

The U.S. resolution to drop U.N. sanctions tied to al-Sharaa and Syria’s interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, stemming from their ties to the al-Qaida militant group, was adopted with 14 members in support. China abstained from the vote.

“With the adoption of this text, the council is sending a strong political signal that recognizes Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled in December 2024,” Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said in his statement after the vote, referring to longtime autocratic leader Bashar Assad.

American officials pushed to pass the resolution before Monday, when President Donald Trump is expected to host al-Sharaa in the first visit by a Syrian president to Washington since the country gained independence in 1946.

Syria’s foreign ministry welcomed the vote, saying in a statement that the near-unanimous support “reflects the growing confidence in President al-Sharaa’s leadership” and “represents a victory for Syrian diplomacy, which has succeeded in restoring international recognition of Syria’s status and its pivotal role in the region.”

But China remained skeptical of the effort. Fu Cong, Chinese ambassador to the U.N., said that while Beijing supports the Syrian people, the U.S. proposal did not adequately address “the legitimate concerns of all parties” regarding counterterrorism and security in Syria.

“The sponsor did not fully heed the views of all members and forced the council to take action even when there were huge differences among council members in an attempt to serve its own political agenda,” he said.

While al-Sharaa is in Washington, Syria is expected to join the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition, which includes some 80 countries working to prevent a resurgence of the militant group.

The effort is part of Trump’s strategy to rebuild relations with Syria after the 50-year rule of the Assad family came to an end in a lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad’s fall also brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war.

Since then, al-Sharaa has sought to restore ties with Arab countries and the West, where officials were initially wary of his past ties to al-Qaida. The rebel group he formerly led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was previously designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group.

Trump met al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and made good on a pledge to lift or waive decades of sanctions against the war-torn country.

However, the most stringent sanctions were imposed by Congress under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act in 2019 and will require a congressional vote to remove them permanently.

In a bipartisan statement, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee welcomed the U.N. action Thursday and said it was now Congress’ turn to act to “bring the Syrian economy into the 21st century.”

We “are actively working with the administration and our colleagues in Congress to repeal Caesar sanctions,” Sens. Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement ahead of the vote. “It’s time to prioritize reconstruction, stability, and a path forward rather than isolation that only deepens hardship for Syrians.”

Syria’s conflict broke out in early 2011 and left nearly half a million people dead and millions displaced, including many who are now refugees. The war caused widespread destruction, and Syria will need tens of billions of dollars to rebuild.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.