From Wanted to Welcomed: Trump Meets Syria’s Ahmad al-Sharaa
Peloni: Al Shaara, aka Al Jolani, has done nothing to deserve lifting of sanctions beyond making promises of inclusive policies back up by acts of sectarian violence. This gift of stabilizing Turkey in yet another state to which it has no right reinforces the well established precedent of the US succumbing to Saudi demands.
Ahmad Sharawi | May 14, 2025
Arab League President Costa meets then interim President of Syria (By © European Union, 1998 – 2025, Attribution)
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” said President Donald Trump on May 13 during a speech at an investment forum in Riyadh at the start of his tour of the Gulf Arab states. The next day, Trump met with Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined by phone. Trump pushed Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, expel foreign fighters and Palestinian terrorist organizations, and take control of ISIS detainees. Sharaa reaffirmed Syria’s 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, expressed interest in counterterrorism cooperation, and pitched Syria as a future trade and energy hub open to U.S. investment.