On Wednesday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first leader of his country in nearly 60 years to address the UN General Assembly. In his speech, he spoke about decades of repression under the ousted Assad regime and emphasized efforts to reshape Syria’s image on the international stage.
"Syria has transformed from an exporter of crises into a source of opportunities for peace—for the country itself and for the region," al-Sharaa said.
A former rebel leader once linked to Al-Qaeda and still officially listed as a terrorist by the US and the UN, he outlined his government’s steps to rebuild the country and its institutions. Al-Sharaa reiterated his readiness for dialogue with Israel, which has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory since his forces swiftly defeated Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December. That victory ended a 13-year civil war that left cities in ruins, displaced half the population, and killed more than 500,000 people. The last Syrian president to address the UN was Nureddin al-Atassi in 1967.
Before his speech, al-Sharaa said: "Our priority is to define a new state of Syria." According to him, the goal is to rid the country of its association with war, refugees, and drug trafficking. He stressed that the government had halted narcotics production and exports, reopened borders for returning refugees, and initiated cooperation with international organizations, including in the field of chemical weapons elimination.
At the UN, the Syrian leader called for the restoration of the 1974 agreement between Syria and Israel on establishing a security zone under peacekeeper supervision. Israeli authorities, after Assad fled to Russia, declared the accord void. Since then, Israel has repeatedly intervened in the Syrian conflict, striking government forces—including in July, in central Damascus.
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"Israeli strikes and attacks against my country continue, and Israel’s policies run counter to international support for Syria, threatening new crises and conflicts in the region," al-Sharaa said. "In the face of this aggression, Syria remains committed to dialogue," he added.
Concluding his remarks—one of the shortest speeches at this year’s Assembly, lasting about eight minutes — al-Sharaa expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza, where, according to local authorities, more than 64,000 have been killed and the majority of nearly two million residents displaced. "The suffering Syria has endured is something we wish on no one," he said. "That is why we firmly support the people of Gaza."