The president’s visit comes as Syria announced the launch of a “large-scale operation” targeting ISIL cells across the country.
Published November 9, 2025
Syrian President Ahmed al-Shalah has arrived in the United States for an official visit, according to state media, during which the United States hopes to include Damascus in the coalition against ISIL (ISIS).
Al-Shara’s arrival in the US capital late Saturday came as Syria’s Interior Ministry announced the launch of a “large-scale security operation” across the country targeting ISIL cells.
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Al-Shara, whose rebels ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
Analysts said it was the first visit by a Syrian president since independence in 1946. Al-Shallah, who first met President Trump in Riyadh in May, was removed from the U.S. “terrorist” sanctions list on Friday.
US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that al-Shara would “hopefully” sign a deal to join the US-led international coalition against ISIL.
Reuters and AFP reported that the US is also preparing to establish a military presence at an air base in Damascus to help implement the security agreement the US is brokering between Syria and Israel. Syria’s state news agency SANA denied the report, citing sources from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Mr al-Sharaa is expected to seek funding for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of brutal war. The World Bank estimates that reconstruction will cost at least $216 billion, calling this a “best conservative estimate.”
Al-Shara once led an al-Qaeda faction in Syria, but his anti-Assad group left the network a decade ago and has since clashed with ISIL. Al-Shara’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was deregistered as a terrorist organization by Washington in July.
Al-Sharah’s visit to Washington, D.C., comes on the heels of a landmark visit to the United Nations in September, when he made his first visit to the U.S. mainland and became the first Syrian president in decades to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On Thursday, the United States led a vote by the United Nations Security Council to lift sanctions against him.
In Damascus, state media reported on Saturday that Syrian security forces had carried out 61 raids across the country targeting ISIL cells.
A Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson said at least 71 people had been arrested and explosives and weapons had been seized.
SANA cited the ministry as saying the operation, which took place in rural areas of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs and Damascus, was part of “ongoing national efforts to combat terrorism and protect public security.”
