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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria may be just weeks away from descending into a renewed civil war of "epic proportions" and urged increased support for the country’s transitional leadership.
"It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks — not many months — away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up," Rubio told a U.S. Senate hearing. His comments followed a wave of deadly attacks targeting Syria’s Alawite and Druze minorities.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, announced the lifting of Assad-era sanctions and met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the guerrilla leader now serving as Syria’s transitional president.
Sharaa, dressed in a suit and described by Trump as a "young, attractive guy," was until recently on a U.S. wanted list.
Rubio joked, "The transitional authority figures, they didn't pass their background check with the FBI."
Still, he emphasized the need for engagement. "If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out."
Rubio, who also met with Syria’s foreign minister in Türkiye on Thursday, attributed the country’s instability to the legacy of Assad, a secular leader from the Alawite sect.
"They are dealing with deep internal distrust in that country, because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other," he said.
He added that lifting sanctions on Syria could pave the way for neighboring countries to assist in building stable governance institutions. President Donald Trump announced his intention to lift sanctions during the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh last week.
Responding to questions about the new government’s fight against terrorism, Rubio said Daesh poses a serious threat but is also deeply opposed to the new leadership. “They hate this new administration because it poses a grave risk to them,” he said.
Rubio stressed that the issue is not one of intent but capability. “Each day authorities do not have control or are unable to provide basic government services is a day that ISIS has the ability to reconstitute itself,” he said, warning that the U.S. presence in Syria would remain during the interim period to prevent the group from “metastasizing and growing.”
The secretary also highlighted Syria’s historically diverse society as a source of resilience. “It is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Alawis, Druze, Christians, Sunnis, Shias and Kurds have historically lived together under a shared Syrian identity,” Rubio said.
“If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them, it was guaranteed to not work out,” he emphasized.
Rubio’s remarks followed recent high-level engagements, including Trump’s meeting with transitional Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, and Rubio’s own talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Türkiye.
Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, signed a constitutional declaration in March outlining a five-year transitional phase. He was declared transitional president in late January.
Assad, who had ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending Baath Party rule in the country for the first time since 1963.
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