U.S. Officials Meet with New Syrian Leaders in Damascus

Forex - A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department stated that senior diplomats from the Biden administration will be in Damascus on Friday to meet with the new Syrian authorities led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), marking the first face-to-face and official meeting between Washington and Syria's de facto new rulers.

Barbara Leaf, the State Department's top Middle East diplomat, along with Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and newly appointed Senior Advisor Daniel Rubinstein, are the first U.S. diplomats to visit Syria since opposition militias overthrew the oppressive President Bashar al-Assad.

This visit coincides with a period where Western governments are gradually opening channels to HTS and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, discussing whether to remove the terrorist designation from the group. The U.S. delegation's trip comes after recent contacts with France and the United Kingdom.