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Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will participate in the 80th Session of the U.N. General Assembly and the “High-Level Week” in New York City from Sept. 22 to 30, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported Tuesday.
Sharaa will be joined by Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani and a senior diplomatic delegation. It will be the first time a Syrian president has attended the assembly since 1967, and the country’s first participation in the High-Level Week.
Sharaa is scheduled to deliver an official address at the assembly on Sept. 24, marking his first speech at the U.N. since taking office in January. He and Shaibani will also hold bilateral meetings with world leaders and heads of delegations on the sidelines of the session.
The Syrian leader is also expected to visit the Turkish House (Turkevi) in New York to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Riyadh and Ankara are reportedly preparing to jointly pressure Washington during this meeting over Israel’s actions in Syrian territory.
Although the new Syrian administration has posed no direct threat to Israel, Israeli forces have repeatedly crossed into Syria in recent months, carrying out airstrikes that killed civilians and destroyed military facilities, weapons, and vehicles.
For the past seven months, the Israeli army has occupied Mount Hermon in its farthest advance inside Syrian territory and maintains a 15-kilometer-wide buffer zone in the south, controlling more than 40,000 Syrians.
Israel has occupied most of the Golan Heights since 1967 and expanded its control following the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.
Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December 2024, ending the decadeslong rule of the Ba’ath Party. A transitional administration led by Sharaa was established in January.
Since Assad’s ouster, the new Syrian leadership has pursued political and economic reforms, sought to promote social cohesion, and moved to strengthen cooperation with regional and international partners.
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