Daijiworld Media Network – Washington
Washington, Nov 14: In a significant geopolitical shift, Syria has agreed to play an active role in helping the United States combat armed groups including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Hamas, Hezbollah, and remnants of the Islamic State (IS), U.S. Special Envoy Tom Barrack announced on Thursday.
The development follows the historic visit of Syria’s interim Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House, making him the first Syrian leader to visit Washington since the country’s independence in 1946.
Shortly after the visit, the U.S.-led coalition fighting the IS group declared Syria its 90th member, marking a new phase of cooperation between Washington and Damascus.
Mr. Barrack, writing on X, said “Damascus will now actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hizballah and other terrorist networks.”
The shift is notable given that Iran’s IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah were major supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted last December by a rebel coalition led by Mr. Sharaa. Hamas does not have an armed presence in Syria.
Mr. Barrack added that he held a “pivotal” meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Syrian official Asaad al-Shaibani to discuss integrating the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into Syria’s new civic, defence, and economic structure.
The Kurdish-led SDF, backed by the U.S., played a central role in eliminating IS from its last territorial holdings. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi recently told AFP that a “preliminary agreement” had been reached with Damascus on merging SDF fighters into Syria’s national security apparatus.
Earlier in March, the SDF and the Sharaa administration signed an agreement to integrate into Syria’s civilian and military institutions, though implementation has faced delays.
In a post on X on November 11, Mr. Abdi reaffirmed to Mr. Barrack the SDF’s commitment to accelerate integration into the Syrian state, signalling a continued push toward political and military realignment in the region.