Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim President of Syria, who is also the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham(HTS)-an Islamist Organisation will be addressing the United Nations General Assembly in the month of September.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry officials in Damscus confirmed the participation while saying, “will take part in the United Nations General Assembly in New York where he will deliver a speech”. The officials however requested to maintain their anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media. The officials further added that Ahmed al-Sharaa will be the first Syrian President to address the assembly since decades. President Nureddin al-Atassi was the last to speak in UNGA in 1967. Infact, Ahmed al-Sharaa is the maiden Syrian President to address the UNGA high-level week scheduled from September 22 to 30.
Apparently, Ahmed al-Sharaa will be addressing the United Nations despite being under the veil of UN sanctions as a wanted terrorist and also facing a travel ban. He was put under the sanctions as a wanted jihadist. Even the HTS organisation that al-Sharaa belongs to is under the UN sanctions. They are sanctioned under the UNSC 1267 list, the very same list that has sanctioned Al-Qaeda and ISIL(Daesh). Thus, he has to request for a travel exemption before undertaking any foreign travel. On the other hand, the Trump administration in the United States has revoked the designation of HTS as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation(FTO). There is also apprehension that whether the latest development of Ahmed al-Sharaa addressing UNGA an impact of US’s strategic move.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham(HTS), an Islamist militant group toppled the hereditary rule of the Assad regime of Syria in December 2024 and took control of Damascus. Ahmed al-Sharaa who was the de facto ruler of Syria was appointed as the interim President in January 2025. Al-Sharaa’s address at the UNGA high-stake week comes at a crucial geopolitical juncture, when the geopolitical landscape of West Asia is drastically trembling as an impact of Israel-Hamas conflict and continued tussle between Israel and Syria over Golan Heights and other regions as a fall-out of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Meanwhile, what will be the world-view of a UN sanctioned leader will be unveiled on the floors of UNGA in September.
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