Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday as he embarked on his first foreign trip since taking power after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Sharaa’s visit to the kingdom signals a shift in regional dynamics as Saudi Arabia and its neighbours embrace the new Syrian authorities in the hope of stabilising the shattered nation and capitalising on the ousting of Assad to deepen their influence in Syria.
Sharaa, who declared himself president last week, is the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the armed Islamist group that led the offensive against Assad and dominates Syria’s new government.
After meeting Prince Mohammed, Sharaa said he “heard a genuine desire to support Syria in building its future”. He added that the talks were “aimed at preserving peace and stability in the entire region and improving the economic reality for the Syrian people”.
His trip highlights how some Arab states are putting aside long-held concerns over organised Islamist movements after the dramatic fall of Assad prompted a power shift in the region following a year of conflict between Israel and Iranian-backed groups.
Before Assad’s ousting, the main foreign actors in Syria were Iran and Russia, which backed his regime during the country’s 13-year civil war — and Turkey, the prime supporter of rebels.
But Iran and its main proxy, the Lebanese militant movement Hizbollah, lost their foothold in Syria after HTS launched its offensive last year, leading to the regime’s collapse on December 8.
Diplomats and analysts say Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both backed the Syrian opposition during the civil war, see an opportunity to exert their influence as they support the new leadership. For Riyadh, it is a chance to counter the roles of Iran and Turkey — with Ankara still a key player in Syria — as Saudi Arabia emerges as one of the main beneficiaries of the change in the balance of power, reasserting its influence in Lebanon as well as Damascus.
Yet other Arab states, notably Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, remain wary of an Islamist movement leading a state in the heart of the Middle East, say diplomats and analysts.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who launched a withering crackdown against Islamists after seizing power in a 2013 coup, congratulated Sharaa last week after the Syrian leader declared himself president.
But unlike other Arab states, Egypt has not dispatched a delegation to Damascus, and state-affiliated media were critical of HTS after it ousted Assad.
In a sign that Syria’s new leaders were seeking to allay regional concerns, an Egyptian Islamist who fought with Syrian rebels against the Assad regime was arrested last month after posting videos online in which he threatened Sisi.
UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, one of the first Arab leaders to re-engage with Assad, backed the Syrian dictator days after HTS launched its offensive. He has since spoken with Sharaa, but the Gulf state has taken a cautious approach, analysts say.
Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said the UAE was in a “wait-and-see mode”.
“I think they are very worried, but they want to track the impact [of the HTS-led administration] on other countries and the region,” she said. “If this remains within Syria, and if the new government can really assert control and stability over Syria, and show a willingness to work with everyone, that will assuage some of their concerns.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been holding discussions about helping the Syrian authorities pay public sector salaries and address dire electricity shortages given they have inherited a bankrupt state.
“The kingdom is giving Syria the benefit of the doubt, so it’s taking a much less suspicious approach than other Arab countries, such as Egypt and the UAE,” said Ali Shihabi, a commentator close to the Saudi royal court. “It has dealt with reformed jihadis before and it sees the value of [Assad’s fall] having kicked the Iranians and Hizbollah out. As long as they walk the talk, they will get support from Saudi Arabia.”
For the past two years, Saudi Arabia had grudgingly sought to re-engage with Assad in an effort to counter Iran’s influence. Arab states also wanted the regime to take action to end the export of drugs, notably Captagon, that was produced in Syria and smuggled across the region.
They had cut ties with Damascus following Assad’s brutal crackdown of the 2011 popular uprising that morphed into civil war, but agreed to readmit Syria to the Arab League in 2023 at a summit in Jeddah.
An Arab diplomat said there could be competition between regional states as they jostle for influence in Syria, but said it was expected to be limited.
He added that HTS was conscious of Arab concerns over the role of Ankara, which has long had ties to the Islamist group and directly backs Syrian factions that supported the offensive against Assad.
“They know Turkey is very important, but they are trying to create a bit of distance, in the sense ‘we are close to them, but they don’t own us’,” the diplomat said.