Syrian ministers visit Riyadh in first trip abroad after Assad’s fall

Syria's foreign and defense ministers met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman in Riyadh on Thursday in a landmark first visit abroad by members of the new Syrian administration less than a month after it took power.

Salman said in a post on X that he had discussed with Syria's new foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, how best to support Syria’s political transition.

The meeting also included Syria's intelligence chief.

Since ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, Syrian rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have sought to reassure Arab countries and the international community that they will govern on behalf of all Syrians and not export religious revolution.

HTS was al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate until it broke off ties in 2016.

Saudi Arabia backed the rebels who fought Assad at the onset of the Syrian civil war.

More recently, Riyadh had embarked on a path of normalizing ties with the Assad government, paving the way for Syria to return to the Arab League in 2023, in an effort to reduce Iranian influence in the country and to stem the flow of drugs including the methamphetamine captagon.