Syria is “willing” to join the Abraham Accords and normalise its relations with Israel, according to a key Trump ally newly returned from Damascus.
Florida Republican Cory Mills, who sits in the House of Representatives, said that he was “cautiously optimistic” following a meeting with the country’s new president Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda member, was installed as Syria’s leader after his Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham paramilitary overthrew the Iran-backed Assad regime in December and claims to be a “transitional” figurehead until a set of democratic elections can be organised.
Having been on a fact-finding delegation to Damascus, Mills told Bloomberg that he had held talks with Al-Sharaa and that the former militant expressed willingness to normalise relations with Israel in return for the lifting of economic sanctions against his country.
The sanctions are having a devastating impact on the Syrian economy and while both Qatar and Saudia Arabia have offered to work with Al-Sharaa, they are not able to do so under the measures imposed by the White House.
During their 90-minute meeting, Mills reportedly laid out Washington’s demands for the elimination of sanctions, which included the dismantling of chemical weapons infrastructure, coordination with the US’ anti-terror efforts and entry into the Abraham Accords.
The Accords, signed in 2020, normalised bilateral relations between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the UAE and were mediated by the US. President Trump has often touted the agreement as one of the key achievements of his first term.
Al-Sharaa meanwhile has, since taking office, made progressively more drastic changes to Syria’s foreign policy, swinging away from Tehran in favour of better relations with Turkey and the West.
This has included the blocking of previously free-flowing arms convoys from Iran to its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah and the arrest of two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders despite the group being allowed to headquarter in Syria for years under Assad.
Concerns have been raised within the international community around his past affiliations, with some analysts suggesting that his apparent enmity towards Iran is consistent with his background in Sunni extremism.
But Mills expressed hope that his leadership may mark a new direction for Syria, which could be cemented by its entry into the Accords, adding: “At one point, Germany and Japan were our enemies, but we have to move beyond this if we are to have stabilisation.”
He added that he would brief Trump and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on his trip shortly and deliver a letter from Al-Sharaa to the US President.
If Syria does join the Accords, it will mark a major shift in its regional diplomacy and its relations with Israel, despite having fought three major wars against the Jewish State and still demanding the return of the Golan Heights.
It comes after the US announced it would withdraw hundreds of its troops from Syrian territory in what the Pentagon called a “consolidation”, reflecting the improving security situation in the country since effective elimination of its Islamic State faction.
The move will bring the total number of American personnel in Syria below 1,000, despite a small rise in the frequency of attacks on US bases in the region in recent months.
Elsewhere, the UK has lifted its sanctions on the Syrian Defence Ministry as well as its Intelligence Directorate, Air Force Intelligence Agency and National Security Bureau in a move the Foreign Office said was designed to promote stability and “encourage the return of Syrian refugees”.
That followed the lifting of sanctions on the Syrian central bank and national oil companies in March as the West deepens its ties with the previously hostile state.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.