Foreign relations of Syria

Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbours and securing the return of the Golan Heights, have been the primary goals of the Syrian Arab Republic's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen tension with its neighbours, such as Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region in the 21st century, prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War.

Until 2018, due to the Syrian civil war, the Syrian Arab Republic's government was partially isolated from the countries in the region and the wider international community. Diplomatic relations are severed with several countries, including Turkey, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, Qatar, Georgia, and Ukraine. In 2011 and 2012, Syria was suspended from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Union for the Mediterranean. Syria is also a full member of the Arab League. Syria is a candidate state of the new Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Syria continues to foster good relations with its traditional allies, Iran and Russia. Other countries that presently maintain good relations with Syria include China, North Korea, Vietnam, Fiji, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, India,   Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia Brunei, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Greece, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Vatican City and Belarus.

Syria does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and South Korea, but has diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Syria also maintains relations with autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.

On 26 February 2023, Bashar al-Assad met with Iraqi, Jordanian, Palestinian, Libyan, Egyptian and Emirati lawmakers, as well as representatives from Oman and Lebanon after more than a decade of isolation in the region. Arab states contributed significantly to the relief effort after the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake. A week before, Al-Assad travelled to Oman for his first foreign visit since the quake.

Diplomatic relations
List of countries which Syria maintains diplomatic relations with:

Americas
Syria has diplomatic relations with most Central and South American countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Asia and Oceania
Syria's relations with the Arab world were strained by its support for Iran during the Iran–Iraq War, which began in 1980. With the end of the war in August 1988, Syria began a slow process of reintegration with the other Arab states. In 1989, it joined with the rest of the Arab world in readmitting Egypt to the 19th Arab League Summit at Casablanca.

This decision, prompted in part by Syria's need for Arab League support of its own position in Lebanon, marked the end of the Syrian-led opposition to Egypt and the 1977–79 Sadat initiatives toward Israel, as well as the Camp David Accords. It coincided with the end of the 10-year Arab subsidy to Syria and other front-line Arab countries pledged at Baghdad in 1978. Syria re-established full diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1989. In the 1990–1991 Gulf War, Syria joined other Arab states in the US-led multinational coalition against Iraq. In 1998, Syria began a slow rapprochement with Iraq, driven primarily by economic needs. In this period, Syria continued to play an active pan-Arab role, which intensified as the Israel-Palestine peace process collapsed in September 2000 with the start of the second Palestinian uprising (Intifada) against Israel. Though it voted in favor of UNSCR 1441 in 2002, Syria was against coalition military action in Iraq in 2003. However, the Syrian government accepted UNSCR 1483 (after being absent for the actual vote), which lifted sanctions on Iraq and established a framework to assist the Iraqi people in determining their political future and rebuilding their economy.

After start of the war in 2011, much of the Middle East condemned Syria's handling of the civil uprising, with only a few countries in the Middle East supporting Syria, most notably Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.

Europe
Greece and Cyprus re-established diplomatic relations with Syria and opened their embassies in 2021, making them the first EU countries to do so.

Membership in international organizations
Syria is a member of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization, Arab League, Arab Monetary Fund, Arab Parliament, Arab States Broadcasting Union, ALBA (observer), Asian–African Legal Consultative Organization, Asian Parliamentary Assembly, Association of Arab Universities, Bureau International des Expositions, Council of Arab Economic Unity, Customs Cooperation Council, Economic and Social Council, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, European Broadcasting Union (associate member), FEAS, Food and Agriculture Organization, Group of 24, Group of 77, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, International Chamber of Commerce, International Development Association, Islamic Development Bank (suspended 2012), International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Finance Corporation, International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Intelsat, Interpol, International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Standardization, IRENA (acceding), International Solar Alliance, International Telecommunication Union, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (suspended 2012), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (joined 2013, suspended 2021), OTIF, Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, UN, UN Commission on Human Rights, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNESCO, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Union for the Mediterranean (suspended 2011), Universal Postal Union, World Bank, World Court, World Customs Organization, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Tourism Organization and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Syria's two-year term as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council ended in December 2003. Syria was elected to the executive of the World Health Organization in 2021.

Arab League
Syria was temporarily suspended from the Arab League since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. Six of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf recognised the Syrian National Coalition as Syria's only legitimate representative on 12 November 2012, but Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon prevented the Arab League from following suit. On 26 March 2013, at the Arab league summit in Doha, the League recognised the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. The National Coalition was henceforth granted Damascus' seat at the summit.

This act of recognition was opposed by Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon. On 9 March 2014, secretary general Nabil al-Arabi said that Syria's seat would remain vacant until the opposition completes the formation of its institutions. In late 2018, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco began lobbying for Syria's return to the League.

In December 2018, after American president Donald Trump announced the partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, some countries initiated reopening of their diplomatic relations with Syria. Diplomatic relations have returned with Iraq, Saudi Arabia (in 2023), Egypt (after 3 July 2013), Tunisia, UAE (after 2018), Jordan (after 2021), Lebanon (after 2021),  Algeria,  Mauritania (after 2018), Bahrain (after 2018), Kuwait (after 2018), Libya,  Oman,   Comoros, Sudan (after 2018), Yemen, Somalia and Palestine.

Following the visit of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the Arab League initiated the process of readmission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the organization, while the United Arab Emirates reopened their embassy in Syria on 27 December, and Bahrain announced its intentions to reopen their embassies.

After the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake, the Saudis, Emirati, Algerians, Iraqis and Jordanians contributed significantly to the relief effort. A week before, Al-Assad travelled to Oman for his first foreign visit since the quake.

On 26 February 2023, President Bashar al-Assad had met with Iraqi, Jordanian, Palestinian, Libyan, Egyptian and Emirati speakers of legislative bodies, as well as representatives from Oman and Lebanon on behalf of Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, to discuss further cooperation between the Arab states and Syria.

In early April 2023, Saudi Arabia had invited Syria's Assad to the Arab League summit, ending regional isolation. On 13 April 2023, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Jeddah to meet Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan. After frayed relations during the Syrian civil war, both nations now seek "a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the unity, security and stability of Syria," according to the Saudi foreign ministry.

On 15 April 2023, foreign ministers of GCC+3 format met in Jeddah and discussed the return of Syria to the regional organisation and so called Arab peace plan.

On 18 April 2023, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan travelled to Damascus, met with Syrian President Assad and discussed further steps. The summit is scheduled for May 19, 2023.

On 7 May 2023, at the meeting of the Council of the Arab League in Cairo composed of foreign ministers, was agreed to reinstate Syria's membership in the Arab League.

Earlier, Kuwait and Qatar had opposed al-Assad's presence at the Arab League summit. The regional normalisation effort had caught the U.S. and its European allies by surprise, as they were opposing an "Arab-led political path" in solving the crisis. According to the statement, al-Assad would be allowed to the meeting on 19 May 2023, if "he wishes to do so". The new political process in Syria was described as the "Jordanian Initiative".

Nevertheless, Syria remains under international sanctions after millions of Syrians had been displaced or sought refuge in Arab and European countries during the war. The changes to the relations between Syria and other Arab States would allow many of them to return to their homeland, according to the announcements made earlier by Jordanian and Saudi officials.

International disputes

 * Western Golan Heights with Israel;
 * dispute with upstream riparian Turkey over Turkish water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
 * separation of the Hatay State and subsequent incorporation into the Turkish state
 * dispute with Turkey concerning the Turkish occupation of North Syria
 * dispute with the United States over the American-led intervention and occupation of Syrian territory
 * illicit drugs: a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for regional and Western markets, as well as captagon