Syria’s president visits Saudi Arabia in likely signal to Iran
New interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa travelled to Riyadh likely to signal Damascus’ shift away from Iran as its main regional ally
Syria’s interim president made his first trip abroad on Sunday, travelling to Saudi Arabia in a move likely trying to signal Damascus’ shift away from Iran as its main regional ally.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, travelled to Riyadh alongside his government’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. A photo published by the state-run SANA news agency showed the two men on a jet, likely provided by the kingdom, with a Saudi flag visible on the table behind them.
Saudi state television trumpeted the fact that the first trip by al-Sharaa, first known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, would make Riyadh his first destination.
Saudi Arabia had been among the Arab nations that poured money into insurgent groups that tried to topple former President Bashar al-Assad after Syria’s 2011 Arab spring protests turned into a bloody crackdown. However, its groups found themselves beaten back as Assad, supported by Iran and Russia, who fought the war into a stalemate in Syria.
That changed with the December lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The group was once affiliated with al-Qaeda but has since denounced its former ties.
Al-Sharaa and HTS have carefully managed their public image in the time since, with the interim president favouring an olive-coloured military look similar to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appointing women to roles and trying to maintain ties to Syria’s Christian and Shiite Alawite populations.
