PNN – In an analytical video, an expert on West Asian issues examines the reasons for the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Abu Muhammad al-Julani (Ahmad al-Sharaa), head of the interim Syrian government, in Riyadh.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, Alireza Majidi, an expert on West Asian issues, has examined in an analytical video the reasons for the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Abu Muhammad al-Julani (Ahmad al-Sharaa), head of the interim Syrian government, in Riyadh.
The last time Hafez Assad and Bill Clinton, the then presidents of Syria and the United States, met was 29 years ago in 1996, which adds to the importance of Al-Shara’s meeting with Trump after decades of cold relations between Damascus and Washington.
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Since coming to power, Ahmed al-Sharaa has tried to advance the process of internal developments in Syria without granting any concessions to other Syrian actors, in order to ensure his monopoly of power and complete control over Damascus and to remove other actors from the power equations in the country.
This issue has in practice caused discontent in many European countries, Russia, and even the Biden administration in the United States. However, with Trump’s entry into the White House, it seems that attention to the role of other parties in the political developments in Syria has become less important than before. In fact, Trump’s lack of special attention and concern for Syria’s internal developments has paved the way for facilitating relations between Damascus and Washington.
In the meantime, it should be added that this important meeting is of strategic importance for the head of the Syrian transitional government in three ways:
- Efforts to lift economic sanctions on Syria
Few observers would doubt that the heavy sanctions imposed by the US government against the Bashar al-Assad regime, also known as the Caesar sanctions, were one of the most important factors in weakening the country’s economic foundations and ultimately leading to the collapse of the Assad regime.
After the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, many countries in the region were particularly ready to invest and enter the Syrian economic market, but they faced a major obstacle in the form of Syrian economic sanctions. Now, it seems that the official announcement by the US President of the lifting or even granting exemptions from sanctions to the new Syrian political system will facilitate the entry of foreign capital into the Syrian market and economy, which will clearly increase the popularity and acceptance of the Ahmed al-Sharaa regime among Syrian citizens.
On the other hand, this will significantly strengthen Al-Jolani’s circle of power among other rival groups and currents.
- Striving for international legitimacy
The status of al-Jolani’s self-proclaimed government in the international environment was extremely shaky before his meeting with Trump on Wednesday. For example, the trips in previous months by many senior officials from European countries such as France and Germany to Damascus and their meetings with Al-Jolani were, above all, within the framework of advancing the process of implementing United Nations Resolution 2254, which emphasized the need to form a transitional government for the purpose of political transition in the country and holding elections.
In fact, many countries around the world considered the Golani government as a transitional and temporary government that was tasked with completing the political transition process by drafting a new constitution and holding national elections, and handing over power to the elected government and system.
In addition, his meeting with Trump could reduce international pressure on his interim government to implement UN Resolution 2254.
- The competition between Al-Jolani and Mazloum Abdi to gain Washington’s support
Another strategic goal of Abu Muhammad al-Julani’s trip to Riyadh and meeting with the US President was that over the past decade, this country had been among the main supporters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Mazloum Abdi, who enjoyed close relations with Washington throughout the years of the Syrian crisis.
Since the establishment of the SDF in October 2015, the relationship between the US government and the ruling regime in Damascus has been completely severed, and the group has become a US-backed actor in the internal developments in Syria. Through this path, the SDF has managed to obtain significant military and economic capital, thanks to its special relationship with the White House, which has been effective in strengthening the group’s position, especially in the geography of northeastern Syria.
The restoration of direct relations between Damascus and Washington could undoubtedly cause serious damage to the special relations between the SDF and the United States, so that Mazloum Abdi and the forces under his command will no longer be able to use the card of their strategic relations with the United States in their possible future negotiations with Damascus.
Trump’s visit, along with the release of news that the US President ordered the withdrawal of American troops from eastern Syria and their transfer to Iraq, likely indicates the strengthening of the position of the Damascus-based government against the SDF in Washington.