Fourteen members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the US-drafted resolution. China abstained.
Published November 6, 2025
The United Nations Security Council has voted to lift sanctions against Syrian President Ahmed al-Shallah and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, following a resolution supported by the United States.
In a largely symbolic move, the Security Council on Thursday removed Syrian government officials from the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda sanctions list in a resolution approved by 14 members. China abstained.
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The formal lifting of sanctions on al-Shara is largely symbolic, as sanctions have been lifted each time he has been required to travel outside Syria in his role as the country’s leader. Asset freezes and arms embargoes will also be lifted.
Al Shara led rebel fighters who overthrew the government of President Bashar al Assad in December. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched the attack on November 27, 2024, reaching Damascus in just 12 days, thereby ending the 53-year rule of the al-Assad family.
The fall of the al-Assad family’s rule has been described as a historic moment. Nearly 14 years after Syrians launched peaceful protests against a government that met them with violence, it quickly escalated into a bloody civil war.
HTS has been on the Security Council’s ISIL and al-Qaeda sanctions list since May 2014.
Since taking power, al-Shara has called on the United States to formally lift sanctions on his country, saying the sanctions imposed on the former Syrian leader are no longer justified.
US President Donald Trump met with the Syrian president in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh in May and ordered that most sanctions be lifted. However, the most severe sanctions were imposed by Congress in 2019 under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, and would require a parliamentary vote to be permanently lifted.
In a bipartisan statement, the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee welcomed Thursday’s U.N. action and said it was Congress’ turn to act to “bring Syria’s economy into the 21st century.”
Sens. Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement ahead of the vote that they are “actively working with the administration and our colleagues in Congress to eliminate the Caesar sanctions.” “The time has come to prioritize recovery, stability and a path forward, rather than isolation, which will only deepen hardship for the Syrian people.”
Al-Shallah is scheduled to meet with President Trump in Washington next week, marking the first visit by a Syrian president to Washington since independence in 1946.
Although Israel and Syria remain officially at war, and Israel still occupies Syria’s Golan Heights, President Trump has expressed hope that the two countries can normalize relations.
