Sharaa meets US Congress members in Damascus

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met on Tuesday with a delegation of US Congress members in Damascus.

The official SANA news agency reported that Sharaa received a delegation of US senators and members of the US House of Representatives.

Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani and Interior Minister Anas Khattab were also present at the meeting.

This marks the second visit by an American delegation to Damascus this month.

Earlier, on August 5, the United States announced that a delegation had visited the Syrian capital to reestablish a permanent diplomatic presence in Syria.

While SANA did not provide details about the meeting, the US Embassy in Damascus said that an interagency delegation, led by Nicholas Granger, head of the Syria Regional Platform, discussed economic issues, expanded security cooperation, and the reestablishment of a permanent diplomatic presence in Damascus.

The embassy added that the American delegation held technical discussions with their Syrian counterparts on topics ranging from financial sector reforms and economic opportunities, to the search for missing Americans.

The US Congress members’ visit comes amid increasing uncertainty over the future of Syria, with deadly sectarian clashes in Suweida and fears of conflict between Syrian government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the stalling of an agreement stipulating the unification of their forces.

On 30 June, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting sanctions on Syria, including measures in place since 1979.

 However, the move did not repeal the Caesar Act, passed by Congress in 2019, since a president cannot alter or suspend legislation enacted by Congress.

The Trump administration said at the time that easing sanctions was intended to give Syria “an opportunity” to become “a stable, peaceful state,” while stressing it would continue to monitor Damascus’ progress on what he claimed were key priorities, including “taking concrete steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, countering foreign terrorists, and banning Palestinian terrorist groups.”