Who is Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to Russia seeking asylum in Moscow?

Syria's ambassador to Moscow, Bashar Al-Jaafari, has reportedly requested asylum in Russia following his recall to Syria by the interim government in Damascus last week.

Jaafari's request, reported by Russian news agency TASS, was made alongside his wife and daughter, according to Saudi outlet Al-Hadath, which added that his Son, Ameer, is already a Russian citizen so did not make a request. 

However, according to Al-Jumhuriya, Jaafari provided a statement to Russian news agency Sputnik denying the claims.

But who is Jaafari and why would he need to seek asylum? The New Arab takes a look.

Longtime regime member

Bashar Al-Jaafari, 69, was born in Damascus in 1956 and completed his university studies in Damascus, Paris and Jakarta, learning French, English and Persian, as well as being father to three children. 

A longtime member of the ruling Baath Party, Jaafari began his career in Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980, serving as an attache to Paris between 1983-1988, and then becoming involved in the country's UN mission between 1991-1994.

In 1998, he worked at the Syrian Embassy in Jakarta. In 2006, Jaafari took up his post as Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, following two years as Permanent Ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

Diplomatic face of the Assad regime

Being a longtime servant of the Assad regime, Jaafari played a critical role at the UN defending the government and denying its human rights violations during the Syrian revolution and civil war, including a UN report in 2012 that the regime was targeting children.

He frequently portrayed the country's opposition movement, which turned into an armed uprising following a brutal regime crackdown, as foreign-backed terrorists, a propaganda line that was disseminated from the outset of the anti-Assad protests.

He also played a prominent role in the regime’s official delegation to peace talks, initially sponsored by the UN and later by Russia and Turkey. During the 2016 Geneva negotiations, Jaafari blamed the opposition for the talks’ collapse, later referring to the opposition’s chief negotiator, Muhammad al-Allush, as a "terrorist".

In 2018, Jaafari warned that Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the country following the regime recapture of liberated territories that was home to millions of internal refugees and subject to brutal bombardment, would be retaken by force by the Assad regime if peace talks fail. Time Magazine quoted him as saying "when it comes to the recapture of all Syrian territories… there is no compromise."

Close family ties

Jaafari is not the only member of his family to have played a prominent role in the regime’s public operations.

In 2012, ABC News' Barbara Walters said she had regretted trying to help Jaafari's daughter Sheherazad get an internship and admission into Columbia University.

Sheherazad had come into contact with Walters after the latter conducted an interview with Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

She helped to coach Assad for the interview, telling Assad not to talk about reforms and that the "American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are 'mistakes' done and now we are 'fixing it'", according to CNN.

She later denied being an aide to Assad and said she had never served in any official role in the regime.

Emails obtained by CNN at the time revealed the she and Assad had struck what was described as a "personal tone" towards one another, while the contents of the communications were described by Foreign Policy as "flirtatious email banter".

On to Russia

In 2020 Jaafari was reshuffled out of his role at the UN, being appointed the deputy foreign minister and then being appointed as the ambassador to Russia in 2022.

Following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024, Jaafari told Syrian expatriates in Russia to celebrate the downfall of the regime, according to Enab Baladi.

However, last week the Syrian foreign ministry decided to recall a number of ambassadors, including Jaafari and Syria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ayman Soussan, who also played an integral part in the Assad regime's foreign ministry.

Jaafari's asylum in Russia would mean he is joining Bashar al-Assad and his family in exile in the country.