• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Security Council lifts terror-related sanctions on Syria's Jolani

Iran Press TV

Friday, 07 November 2025 10:45 AM

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has removed Syria's self-proclaimed president, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, and his interior minister, Anas Khatta, from a terrorism-related sanctions list.

During a Security Council meeting on Thursday, 14 member states voted in favor of a US-sponsored resolution to formally lift UN sanctions that had been slapped on Jolani and Khatta for their affiliation with terrorist groups.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said that with the adoption of the resolution, the UNSC is "sending a strong political signal that recognizes Syria is in a new era."

China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong, however, said that his country abstained from the vote because the resolution did not properly address its concerns about counter-terrorism and security in Syria.

The United States "did not fully heed the views of all members and forced the Council to take action even when there were huge differences among Council members in an attempt to serve its own political agenda," he added.

Once affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh, Jolani seized power in Syria following a rapid onslaught by his militant group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which ousted the government of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

HTS had been proscribed as a terrorist outfit by the United Nations since 2014. Jolani was among those sanctioned, subjected to an asset freeze and travel ban.

In May, US President Trump announced that his country would remove sanctions on Syria and he met with Jolani for the first time in Saudi Arabia.

However, Jolani remained on the UN sanctions list and was forced to seek waivers for some of his travels, including for the September trip to New York to address the General Assembly session.

The lifting of sanctions on Jolani came ahead of his visit to the White House, where he is expected to meet Trump.

Since the fall of Assad's government, the HTS-led administration, which enjoys unconditional backing by Western and the Persian Gulf Arab countries, has engaged in sectarian killings, kidnappings, and persecution across Syria.

Between December 2024 and July 2025, more than 430,000 people in Syria were newly displaced, driven by sectarian violence, acts of revenge, property disputes and Israeli occupation of land, according to the UN.