ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in New York, discussing sanctions relief and reshaping Syria’s ties with Israel.

“I met with Syrian President al-Sharaa about our shared goals for a stable and sovereign Syria and ongoing efforts to bring security and prosperity to all Syrians. We also discussed implementing President [Donald] Trump’s historic announcement on sanctions relief and the importance of Israel-Syria relations,” Rubio said on X. 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with Sharaa, a former jihadist, being the first Syrian leader set to speak at the assembly since 1967. 

A State Department statement said that Rubio and Sharaa also discussed “ongoing counterterrorism efforts” and stressed that Israel-Syria relations will significantly boost regional stability. 

The new government under Sharaa has vociferously worked to garner international credibility following the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December, with the high-profile event marking a seminal opportunity for Damascus to further its campaign to remove sanctions on the country and enhance its global status.

Since the fall of Assad, the interim Syrian government has repeatedly called on the international community to lift Baathist-era sanctions against Damascus to allow for reconstruction and economic development after over a decade of brutal civil war. 

In May, Trump met with Sharaa in Riyadh, in the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan via video conference. The meeting came one day after Trump made a landmark decision to remove all sanctions on Syria “in order to give them a chance at greatness.”

The meeting also addressed “efforts to locate missing Americans,” according to the State Department.

Several Americans went missing in Syria during the rule of the previous Baathist regime. Among them is Austin Tice, an American journalist and US military veteran who was kidnapped while covering Syria in August 2012. 

Tice is labeled “the longest-held American journalist in history,” according to UK-based The Independent newspaper. His family recently said that they have been told their son is “alive and well.”