Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives in New York for the UN General Assembly, September 21, 2025

Less than 10 months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa will address the UN General Assembly in New York.

The visit is the first by a Syrian head of state to the UN since 1967.

Sharaa, the long-time head of the anti-Assad faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was designated a “terrorist” by the US Government from 2013 to July 2025. However, his Government has worked with Washington as well as others in the international community to pursue political stability and reconstruction.

Elections for the People’s Assembly have been set for October. Two-thirds of the 210 representatives will be chosen by local committees supervised by the electoral commission. The other third will be appointed by Sharaa.

While seeking to overcome the mass killing and repression of the Assad family’s 44 years in power, the Government has faced ongoing violence — and has been accused of being involved in killings, abductions, and dispossessions — in parts of Syria. More than 1,000 people, most of them Alawites, were slain in the west in March. More than 800, most of them Druze, perished in Suwayda Province in the south in July.

See also Amnesty and UN: Alarm at Attacks on Druze in Southern Syria in July

The Government has announced national elections for October.

On Sunday, al-Sharaa met Syrians in New York City, including members of the Jewish community. Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani has been conferring with high-level officials of other countries.