The United States has labeled Syria a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979 and intensified sanctions on the country beginning in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on peaceful protests against its ironfisted rule. Sanctions were expanded in 2020 under the Caesar Act.

"Our Kurdish vision document will be the basis for negotiations with Damascus. The delegation is close to being ready to negotiate with Damascus," Aldar Xelil, a member of the presidential council of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the dominant faction in northeastern Syria, told Reuters.

For one thing, essentials like housing, clean water and electricity are patchy; according to a un poll of refugees in the diaspora, 81% of homeowners who fled abroad say their houses are no longer habitable. Many schools and hospitals are in ruins. This puts off families with children or the elderly.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio bleakly warned that Syria appears to be weeks away from plunging into another civil war or collapsing altogether, elevating the risk of wreaking havoc across the

During Syria’s civil war, protecting the revered Sayyida Zeinab shrine was a rallying cry for some Shiite fighters and groups from beyond the country’s borders backing then-President Bashar Assad.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, said on Friday he has assumed the role of special envoy to Syria, as the Trump administration moves to lift sanctions on the country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country, the United States, Syria and Iraq have formed a working group to try to resolve the issue of Islamic State group prisoners held in Syria

The top U.N. official for Syria warned Wednesday of the “real dangers of renewed conflict and deeper confrontation” in the war-battered country but also hoped for a better life for its people following decisions by the U.