ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Thursday arrived in Washington to hold meetings with US officials on the lifting of sanctions on Syria, marking the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to the US in decades.

“Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani's visit to Washington is historic, as it is the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister in twenty-five years and represents a milestone in Syrian-American relations after decades of severance,” Syrian state media said, citing the foreign affairs ministry’s media department.

Shaibani on Thursday met with US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, and US Congressman Joe Wilson, among others, and is scheduled to meet other "members of Congress, the Senate, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio” in the coming days, according to SANA.

Previous reports suggest that the visit aims at permanently lifting the remaining Caesar Act sanctions.”

The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 was a US sanctions law that targeted the Syrian government and anyone who did business with it, cutting the country off from the global economy. The law was enacted during the rule of the previous Baathist regime under Bashar al-Assad.

Since the fall of Assad in December 2024, the interim Syrian government has been repeatedly calling on the international community to lift Assad-era sanctions in Damascus to allow for reconstruction and economic development after over a decade of civil war.

US Congressman Joe Wilson met with Shaibani on Thursday, stating that “Trump’s leadership has ushered in a historic opportunity for a new chapter, benefitting all. Congress must now act: fully repeal the Caesar Act,” in a post on X.

In May 2025, US President Donald Trump’s administration issued a 180-day waiver for the sanctions, but only the US Congress can permanently cancel them.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch also met with the Syrian top diplomat, writing on X that “discussed steps that are essential for Syria to ensure their full access to the international economy.”

For Trump to support a permanent lift on the Caesar Act sanctions, he “wants to see Syria officially join the coalition against ISIS and move toward a new security agreement with Israel,” United States Senator Lindsey Graham told US media outlet Axios.

Israel has repeatedly launched airstrikes against Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, nominally to destroy weapons caches and protect the minority Druze community that has been the target of sectarian massacres at the hands of armed forces affiliated with the new Damascus government.

On Wednesday, a meeting took place between Shaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer aimed at reducing the recent escalation between the two states and discussing Israel’s proposal for a security deal.

The proposal demands the ban of Syrian aircraft as well as the Syrian military on the Syrian-Israeli border, and in return, Israel would withdraw from the 1974 buffer zone, except for Mount Hermon peak. Damascus has not yet responded to the Israeli proposal.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that negotiations between his country and Israel regarding a security agreement could lead to results “in the coming days.”

Sharaa is set to address the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session in late September in New York, as the first Syrian president to address the assembly since 1967. The leader will reportedly seek aid for post-war reconstruction, the lifting of sanctions, and broader global cooperation.