https://www.scmp.com/rss/522906/feed The latest news and top stories on Ahmed al-Sharaa, Interim President of Syria. As the former leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), he spearheaded the offensive that overthrew the previous Syrian regime in December 2024. Now serving as interim president, his responsibilities include leading the transitional government, rebuilding state institutions and fostering national unity. Al-Sharaa has actively pursued international re-engagement, securing sanctions relief and conducting diplomatic... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad opened in Damascus on Sunday. Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad, and who is also a cousin of the former president, appeared in the courtroom to face charges related to “crimes against the Syrian people,” the state-run news agency SANA reported. Najib was in that position in 2011 when... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351488/syria-begins-long-awaited-first-trial-assad-era-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351488/syria-begins-long-awaited-first-trial-assad-era-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:52:44 +0000 Reuters Reuters Ukraine and Syria pledged greater security cooperation in talks on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as Kyiv seeks to promote its military expertise across the region following the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran. Zelensky, continuing his tour of Middle East countries, ‌met with his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus. “We agreed to work together to provide more security and opportunities for development for our societies,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. In a later post,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349106/zelensky-syria-discuss-security-cooperation-president-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349106/zelensky-syria-discuss-security-cooperation-president-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:01:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders have seen nearly 700,000 people flee their homes in Lebanon in just over a week, with more than 100,000 fleeing in 24 hours, the UN said on Tuesday. “Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the representative in Lebanon of UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. In just over a week since the new escalation in Lebanon, Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings to residents of dozens of villages “forced families... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:22:42 +0000 Reuters Reuters Iranian ⁠Kurdish militias have consulted with the United States in recent days ⁠about whether, and how, to attack Iran’s security forces in the western part of the country, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. The Iranian Kurdish coalition of groups based on the Iran-Iraq border in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has been training to mount such an attack in hopes of weakening the country’s military, as the United States and Israel pound Iranian targets with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345359/us-and-kurds-discuss-potential-iran-military-operation-sources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345359/us-and-kurds-discuss-potential-iran-military-operation-sources?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 04:33:42 +0000 Reuters Reuters The United States has warned Syria against relying on Chinese technology in its telecommunications sector, arguing it conflicts with US interests and threatens US national security, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal in San Francisco on Tuesday. Washington has been ‌coordinating closely with Damascus since 2024, when Syria’s now President... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344793/us-presses-syria-shift-chinese-telecoms-systems-cites-threat-national-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344793/us-presses-syria-shift-chinese-telecoms-systems-cites-threat-national-security?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 22:42:08 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The Trump administration is withdrawing forces from Syria as part of a strategic shift now that the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa is taking control of the fight against terror groups, according to a senior US official. A significant US troop presence is no longer required in Syria, according to the official who detailed the decision on condition of anonymity, but the Trump administration is ready to respond to Islamic State threats in the region. Some US personnel are leaving as part... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343947/us-pulls-forces-syria-new-government-exerts-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343947/us-pulls-forces-syria-new-government-exerts-control?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:04:52 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US military said it completed a withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria on Thursday, handing it over to Syrian forces, in the latest sign of strengthening US Syrian ties that could enable an even larger American drawdown. The al-Tanf garrison is positioned at the tri-border confluence of Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Established during Syria’s civil war in 2014, the United States initially relied on it as a ‌hub for operations by the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants who once... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343413/us-pulls-out-strategic-military-base-and-hands-it-over-syria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343413/us-pulls-out-strategic-military-base-and-hands-it-over-syria?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 04:28:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Syria and Saudi Arabia signed deals on Saturday that include a joint airline and a US$1 billion project to develop telecommunications, officials said, as Syria seeks to rebuild after years of war. Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of Syria’s Islamist authorities who took power after toppling long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The new authorities in Damascus have worked to attract investment and have signed major agreements with several companies and governments, including Saudi... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342788/saudi-arabia-syria-sign-telecom-and-airline-deals-sanctions-lift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342788/saudi-arabia-syria-sign-telecom-and-airline-deals-sanctions-lift?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 15:27:02 +0000 Reuters Reuters Syria on Tuesday announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces it has seized swathes of territory from in the northeast and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central ‌state, which their main ally, the United States, urged them to accept. The lightning government advances in recent days and the apparent withdrawal of US support for the continued holding of territory by the Syrian Democratic ‍Forces represent the biggest change of control in the country since rebels ousted Bashar... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340614/syria-gives-kurds-4-days-accept-integration-us-signals-end-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340614/syria-gives-kurds-4-days-accept-integration-us-signals-end-support?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:49:18 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A day after a sweeping deal was announced between the Syrian government and the country’s main Kurdish-led force, the agreement appeared to be falling apart on Monday. After new outbreaks of clashes Monday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces issued a statement calling for “all of our youth” to “join the ranks of the resistance”. “Just as our comrades in 2014 forged a historic resistance in Kobani and turned it into a graveyard for (the Islamic State group) ... today we affirm with the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340481/syria-deal-kurdish-fighters-appears-unravel-islamic-state-prisoners-escape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340481/syria-deal-kurdish-fighters-appears-unravel-islamic-state-prisoners-escape?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jan 2026 23:22:02 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Kurdish-led forces withdrew on Sunday from Syria’s largest oilfield, a conflict monitor said, as government troops extended their grip over swathes of territory in the country’s north and east. The push came after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition in an apparent goodwill gesture, even as his Islamist government seeks to assert its authority across Syria after the ousting of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The Kurds’ de facto autonomous... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340340/syrian-government-forces-take-al-omar-oilfield-kurds-withdraw?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340340/syrian-government-forces-take-al-omar-oilfield-kurds-withdraw?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 13:21:04 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria on Saturday, the US military said, in the latest response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead. Washington said a lone gunman from the militant group carried out the December 13 attack in Palmyra – home to Unesco-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by jihadist fighters – that killed two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter. “The strikes today targeted ISIS... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339465/us-says-it-carried-out-new-large-scale-strikes-against-isis-syria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339465/us-says-it-carried-out-new-large-scale-strikes-against-isis-syria?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:54:49 +0000 Reuters Reuters Kurdish fighters rejected a call to leave Syria’s Aleppo on Friday after the government announced a truce in deadly fighting that forced thousands of civilians to flee. Since Tuesday, government forces had been fighting the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo, the country’s second city. The violence killed 21 people and was the latest challenge for a country still struggling to forge a new path after Islamist authorities ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad just over... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339287/syria-declares-ceasefire-aleppo-after-deadly-clashes-kurdish-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339287/syria-declares-ceasefire-aleppo-after-deadly-clashes-kurdish-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2026 06:15:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Homs, Syria, on Friday. In a statement on Telegram, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna announced that its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque. The group – which was formed after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad – previously claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 20 people at a Damascus church... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337843/blast-syria-kills-8-mosque-targeting-alawite-minority-homs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337843/blast-syria-kills-8-mosque-targeting-alawite-minority-homs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:00:20 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Donald Trump’s administration launched the military strikes on Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State (Isis) group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago. At least five Isis members, including a cell leader, were killed in the overnight strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337143/us-strikes-isis-fighters-syria-after-3-americans-killed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337143/us-strikes-isis-fighters-syria-after-3-americans-killed?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 23:09:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that “we will retaliate” after two US service members and one American civilian were killed in a Syria attack that the US blames on the Islamic State group. “This is an Isis attack,” the president told reporters at the White House before departing for the Army-Navy American football game in Baltimore. He paid condolences to the three Americans killed and said three others who were wounded “seem to be doing pretty well”. The attack on US troops in Syria... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3336353/us-syrian-soldiers-injured-joint-patrol-ancient-city-shot-state-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3336353/us-syrian-soldiers-injured-joint-patrol-ancient-city-shot-state-media?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:19:51 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A year after the curtain fell on the Assad regime’s five-decade reign of terror, Syria is emerging as a rare beacon of renewal in a conflict-weary region. President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadi filled with revolutionary zeal to rebuild his home after 14 years of civil war, has successfully consolidated power and won broad international recognition. Over the past 12 months, Syria has “transformed from a global pariah to a fully fledged, integral component of the international community”,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336269/syrias-year-epic-transformation-earns-it-trumps-protection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3336269/syrias-year-epic-transformation-earns-it-trumps-protection?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 08:00:19 +0000 Reuters Reuters Syrians marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted rule on Monday, as the fractured nation struggles to find stability and recover after years of war. Official celebrations are planned for the central Umayyad Square in Damascus, which has been packed with jubilant gatherings ahead of December 8, and in other parts of the country. Military parades are also expected. Assad fled Syria for Russia a year ago as rebels commanded by Syria’s new president, Ahmed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335621/syria-celebrates-anniversary-assads-fall-and-new-dawn-under-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335621/syria-celebrates-anniversary-assads-fall-and-new-dawn-under-ahmed-al-sharaa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:14:02 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump has invited Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in the “near future”, the prime minister’s office said on Monday, soon after Trump said Israel should maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria. A visit to the White House would mark the Israeli prime minister’s fifth since Trump returned to office in January. The two leaders have publicly projected a close relationship, though US and Israeli sources have said Trump has at times expressed frustration with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334819/trump-invites-netanyahu-white-house-near-future-israeli-pms-office-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334819/trump-invites-netanyahu-white-house-near-future-israeli-pms-office-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:44:05 +0000 Zhao Ziwen Zhao Ziwen China pledged to “actively consider” helping Syria with post-war reconstruction when its new foreign minister visited Beijing earlier this month. But analysts said the two sides needed to first overcome the major hurdle of militant groups linked to China’s Xinjiang region integrated into the Syrian armed forces. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani on November 17 that the two sides should gradually resume exchanges, adding that Beijing would consider helping... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3334559/why-xinjiang-casts-long-shadow-over-china-and-syrias-efforts-build-better-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3334559/why-xinjiang-casts-long-shadow-over-china-and-syrias-efforts-build-better-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Nov 2025 04:00:15 +0000 Zhao Ziwen Zhao Ziwen China will “actively consider” helping Syria’s post-war reconstruction, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, as he called for the two countries to get relations back on track. Wang made the comments in a meeting on Monday with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani, who was making his first trip to Beijing since the downfall of Bashar al-Assad last year. Wang also urged the new government to act against Uygur militant groups that have been linked to the fight against Assad. At Beijing’s request,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3333127/china-looks-get-relations-syria-back-track-after-assads-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3333127/china-looks-get-relations-syria-back-track-after-assads-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 13:19:54 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Syria is joining the global coalition against Islamic State, a US official said on Monday hours after President Donald Trump welcomed his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa for historic White House talks. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the Middle Eastern country’s independence in 1946. But the 43-year-old’s landmark visit to the Oval Office came just days after Washington removed him... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3332254/trump-hosts-syrias-president-sharaa-white-house-renews-temporary-waiver-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3332254/trump-hosts-syrias-president-sharaa-white-house-renews-temporary-waiver-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 19:19:46 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332079/syrias-leader-arrives-us-trump-visit-after-removal-terrorism-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332079/syrias-leader-arrives-us-trump-visit-after-removal-terrorism-blacklist?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 23:10:17 +0000 Alessandro Arduino Alessandro Arduino Early this month, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is expected in Beijing for what both sides have billed as a “reset” in relations. The move reflects a wider trend across the Middle East, where governments wary of Western conditionality are increasingly seeking what they view as less encumbered partnerships with China. The winds of realpolitik are sweeping from the Middle East to Central and South Asia, bringing “hard resets” across entire regions. India’s quiet pivot towards the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331122/what-syrias-post-war-pivot-china-tells-us-about-new-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3331122/what-syrias-post-war-pivot-china-tells-us-about-new-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 05:30:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Syria will select members of its first post-Assad parliament on Sunday in a process criticised as undemocratic, with a third of the members appointed by interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. The assembly’s formation is set to consolidate the power of Sharaa, whose Islamist forces led a coalition that toppled long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war and five decades of one-family rule. According to the organising committee, more than 1,500 candidates – just 14... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3327901/syria-select-post-assad-parliamentary-members-process-deemed-undemocratic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3327901/syria-select-post-assad-parliamentary-members-process-deemed-undemocratic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Oct 2025 03:30:41 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Syria on Sunday denied targeting a village in Aleppo province a day earlier, instead blaming Kurdish-led forces for an attack that a human rights monitor said killed seven civilians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that five women and two children were killed on Saturday in the village of Umm Tina, in the Deir Hafer area of Aleppo province, in bombardment carried out “by Syrian army personnel.” A semi-autonomous Kurdish administration controls swathes of north and northeast... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3326314/7-killed-aleppo-bombardment-syria-blames-kurdish-led-forces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3326314/7-killed-aleppo-bombardment-syria-blames-kurdish-led-forces?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Sep 2025 13:56:27 +0000 Reuters Reuters Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has expressed hope that his country would avoid military conflict with US-backed Kurdish forces if efforts to integrate their autonomous administration in northeast Syria into the state structure collapse. In remarks late on Saturday to senior figures from Idlib, where he has mustered loyalist forces, Sharaa said Kurdish leaders had signalled readiness to move forward with a landmark deal in March to bring their Kurdish-run areas under state authority. But their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322157/syrias-president-sharaa-hopes-kurdish-deal-prevent-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322157/syrias-president-sharaa-hopes-kurdish-deal-prevent-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 18:42:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters Syria will not take part in planned meetings with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Paris, Syria’s state news agency quoted a government source as saying on Saturday, casting doubt over an integration deal signed by the two sides in March. The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during the fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq. In March, the SDF signed a deal with the new... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3321315/syria-steps-back-paris-meetings-kurdish-led-sdf?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3321315/syria-steps-back-paris-meetings-kurdish-led-sdf?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2025 09:28:32 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain As Syria approaches a watershed moment in its post-war transition, the country’s fragile peace is being tested by renewed diplomatic manoeuvres, sectarian violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis. The latest round of Western and Arab mediation comes a full 14 years since the outbreak of civil war and follows sectarian clashes in mid-July that left 1,400 dead in the southwestern Sweida region, highlighting the urgent need to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity from the designs of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320490/syrias-make-or-break-moment-looms-first-post-assad-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320490/syrias-make-or-break-moment-looms-first-post-assad-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2025 08:00:16 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Some US$20 billion of foreign investment and financial aid is set to pour into Syria over the next few years, kick-starting the reconstruction of the war-torn country after Western sanctions were lifted two months ago. But the desperately needed funds forthcoming from Gulf Arab, Turkish and Western firms remain tied to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s willingness to reach some kind of Washington-backed peace agreement with an antagonistic Israel, according to several Middle East experts who... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318602/syrias-future-tied-israel-peace-deal-billions-investment-set-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3318602/syrias-future-tied-israel-peace-deal-billions-investment-set-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 09:33:32 +0000 Laura Zhou Laura Zhou Beijing is likely to step up support for Tehran as it tries to secure its strategic interests in the Middle East, analysts say, amid concerns over how the recent Iran-Israel war will reverberate across the resource-rich region. But one analyst noted it was a balancing act for Beijing to avoid compromising ties with Arab countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations. The assessment was made as policymakers around the world are closely watching how the 12-day conflict in June – briefly joined... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3317667/china-likely-strengthen-backing-iran-it-looks-secure-strategic-interests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3317667/china-likely-strengthen-backing-iran-it-looks-secure-strategic-interests?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2025 08:59:53 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United States on Monday announced it was revoking its designation as a “foreign terrorist organisation” of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group once linked to al-Qaeda that toppled Syria’s government in December. “In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” wrote US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo. An armed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317292/us-revoking-terrorist-designation-syrias-hts-group-overthrew-president-assad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317292/us-revoking-terrorist-designation-syrias-hts-group-overthrew-president-assad?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Jul 2025 17:29:43 +0000