On Tuesday, the United States proposed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) aimed at lifting sanctions against Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharah and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, ahead of their scheduled visit to the White House on November 10.
Sharah serves as Syria’s interim president and is the head of the Islamic rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which successfully removed dictator Bashar al-Assad from power in December 2024.
HTS originally emerged from an al-Qaeda affiliate known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and Sharah was a notable leader within al-Qaeda. Consequently, he and other HTS members have been under UN and US sanctions for several years. Anas Hasan Khattab was also designated by the UNSC in 2014 as a founding member of Jabhat al-Nusra.
When Sharah met with President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia, the president seemed supportive of Sharah’s request for sanction relief and backing for post-war recovery efforts. Despite a July executive order enforcing extensive sanctions, some of the strictest measures might nevertheless need reevaluation. The Trump administration also designated HTS as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) in July.
The UN sanctions against Sharah and Khattab include a travel ban. Although this ban has been enforced multiple times, it may be temporarily lifted to allow Sharah to visit Washington, even if the resolution to annul the sanctions doesn’t pass.
According to an unnamed official, a vote on the resolution to lift the sanctions could take place as early as Thursday. U.S. officials are reportedly looking for a swift decision regarding Sharah’s status before he engages in discussions with President Trump.
While Sharah is in Washington, Syria is expected to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, involving approximately 80 nations committed to countering the group’s resurgence.
A July report from the United Nations Sanctions Monitor indicated no ongoing relationship between HTS and al-Qaeda, suggesting that the two factions had diverged since 2016. Furthermore, the report highlighted that many individuals at HTS’s tactical level may have more extreme beliefs than their leaders, Sharah and Khattab, who were observed to be “more pragmatic than ideological.”
