Ahmed al-Sharaa

Force in Play

In office since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman oversaw the signing of a defence cooperation agreement in Riyadh on Wednesday. It was al-Sharaa's second visit to the kingdom in less than a month. The two governments did not disclose the terms of the defence deal.

Updated 2 hours ago

Rule Changes

As of October 2026: Leads the post-Assad government in Damascus

Syria is no longer on the US list of countries barred from buying American weapons. The State Department amended the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) on October 1, 2026, so defense export requests from Damascus now get case-by-case review instead of automatic denial.

Updated Oct 3

Force in Play

As of August 2026: Seeking a security deal with Israel while his bases get bombed

Syria and Israel held US-mediated talks in Jordan on August 23, the highest-level session yet between the two governments. Syria's foreign minister led a delegation that included army and intelligence chiefs, but the meeting did not stop the attacks: Israel bombed targets near Damascus and in Lebanon days later.

Updated Aug 27

Force in Play

As of August 2026: Leading Syria's post-Assad government and its opening to inspectors

For nineteen years, the ruins of a bombed reactor in eastern Syria held a stash of uranium no inspector could touch. Now Syria's new government says it will let the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), haul the material away. The move heads off an Israeli threat to bomb the site a second time.

Updated Aug 11

Force in Play

As of August 2026: Leading Syria's post-Assad government and renegotiating ties with Moscow

Russia has kept warships at Syria's port of Tartus since 1971. On Sunday, Damascus said Moscow will hand back the port's commercial berth and a coastal airport, and turn both its Syrian bases into shared 'training and capacity-building centres.'

Updated Aug 10

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Heading post-Assad administration

On April 26, 2026, a brigadier general in a brown prison uniform stepped into an iron cage at Damascus's Palace of Justice. The general was Atef Najib, al-Assad's cousin, whose 2011 detention of Deraa teenagers lit the fuse of Syria's civil war; he became the first official of the fallen regime to face a public trial.

Updated May 31

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Leading transitional government since January 2025

The United States began bombing ISIS targets in Syria in September 2014. Eleven years later, Washington announced it will withdraw all remaining troops within two months—ending a ground presence that once numbered over 2,000 soldiers. The withdrawal follows a series of changes: Assad's fall in December 2024, the rise of an HTS-led government, and an agreement integrating American Kurdish allies into Syria's national army.

Updated May 29

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Leading integration negotiations with SDF

The SDF has guarded roughly 9,000 ISIS fighters and 38,000 of their family members since the caliphate collapsed in 2019. On January 20, 2026, when Syrian government forces took control of Al-Shaddadi prison, a gap in the handover let between 120 and 200 detainees escape; most were quickly recaptured. The incident exposed how fragile the world's largest ISIS detention system is, prompting the U.S. to transfer detainees to Iraq on January 21, starting with 150 in a mission that could relocate up to 7,000.

Updated May 22

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Secured SDF capitulation through military offensive and political settlement

Syria's 13-month standoff over Kurdish autonomy ended on January 18, 2026, when Damascus and the SDF signed a 14-point agreement dissolving the Kurdish autonomous administration. The agreement came after Syrian forces captured the al-Omar oilfield, Tabqa dam, and Raqqa city in a lightning offensive, forcing the SDF to withdraw east of the Euphrates and hand over all three northeastern provinces.

Updated May 22

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Met Mazloum Abdi January 20 for 5-hour talks that collapsed after demanding full Hasakah control; received Trump call pledging not to advance on Hasakah; announced 4-day ceasefire through Jan 24

The five-hour meeting collapsed on January 20. Syrian President al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi met in Damascus for the highest-level direct talks since the January 18 ceasefire.

Updated May 20

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Leading Syria's transition since January 2025, formerly designated terrorist

On December 8, 2024, Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed after an 11-day offensive by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, ending the 53-year dynasty. Regime forces simply melted away, and Assad fled to Moscow. On January 7, 2025, a Qatar Airways flight landed in Damascus, the first international arrival in 13 years, as the new transitional government began the monumental task of rebuilding a shattered nation.

Updated May 19

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Leading Syria's transitional government after toppling Assad

A lone ISIS gunman killed two Iowa National Guardsmen and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13, 2025—the first American combat deaths since Bashar al-Assad fled the country a year earlier. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded with Operation Hawkeye Strike.

Updated May 16

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Leading Syria's post-Assad government, cooperating with US on ISIS

On December 13, 2025, a Syrian security officer allegedly affiliated with ISIS opened fire on US troops near Palmyra, killing two Iowa National Guard members (Staff Sgts. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard) and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat. The US responded six days later with Operation Hawkeye Strike: 100 precision munitions against 70 ISIS targets in central Syria via fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery, plus Jordanian F-16s, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called 'a declaration of vengeance.'

Updated May 16

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Cooperating with U.S.-led counter-ISIS efforts while rebuilding a fractured state.

In the first post-strike readout of

Updated May 15

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Leading a fragile transition under intense scrutiny after coastal killings

Britain just named names in Syria's ugliest post-Assad story: who helped kill civilians, and who paid for the machinery of abuse. The UK's new package freezes assets, bans travel, and blocks them from UK business.

Updated May 15