Syria will play an active role in assisting the United States in fighting armed groups, including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hamas and Hezbollah, U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack said on Thursday (November 13, 2025).
Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, himself a former jihadist, became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since his country’s independence in 1946.
Shortly after his visit, the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group (IS) announced that Syria had become its 90th member.
On Thursday (November 13), Mr. Barrack wrote on X that “Damascus will now actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks”.
Iran’s powerful IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah were key backers of President Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted last December by a rebel coalition led by Mr. Sharaa.
