
The News
Syria’s new president arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first official foreign trip.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the rebel coalition that toppled Bashar al-Assad, met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: Both born in Riyadh, they are the Arab world’s two youngest leaders.
Saudi Arabia is pushing world governments to lift international sanctions on Damascus as it looks to shape the future of a country once firmly under Tehran’s influence.
SIGNALS
Visit reflects changed regional dynamics
Sharaa’s choice of Saudi Arabia for his first foreign destination signals Damascus’ move away from Iran as its top Middle East ally, and toward the Gulf states: A “seismic shift in [Syria’s] alignment and future relations,” Al-Jazeera wrote. Other regional leaders, including from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, have also congratulated Sharaa on his appointment as president, while Iran and its proxies were silent, Al-Monitor reported. The exchanges reflected just how much has changed since Syria’s regime fell: Iran’s regional influence is now vastly diminished, while “Saudi Arabia appears to have seized the opportunity to try to establish its influence with Damascus,” The New York Times wrote.
Riyadh could help boost Syria on world stage
Western diplomats have also made overtures to the new Syrian government, traveling to Damascus to discuss the potential lifting of international sanctions to help rebuild the country’s shattered economy. While Sharaa — whose Islamist group is still considered a terrorist organization by several world powers — looks to position himself as a leader capable of overseeing a diverse government, Riyadh could help boost his legitimacy on the world stage and reintegrate Syria into the global economy, analysts said: Saudi Arabia “is an important key in a very critical period to move Syria to political safety in Washington and then in the region,” journalist Hassan I. Hassan noted.