{"id":222481,"date":"2026-07-25T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/222481\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T17:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:22:09","slug":"guterres-visits-syria-as-damascus-seeks-reconstruction-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/222481\/","title":{"rendered":"Guterres visits Syria as Damascus seeks reconstruction support"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres arrived in Syria<\/a> on Saturday, in an important visit that Damascus sees as transformative. It comes in the wake of Syria signing a new pipeline deal to link Iraq to the port of Baniyas and also comes after Syria\u2019s president met US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have just arrived in Damascus<\/a> for a visit of solidarity,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cMy message is clear: The UN stands with Syria at this pivotal moment, and I appeal to the international community to spare no effort to support the people of Syria as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syrian state media SANA noted that Syria\u2019s \u201cForeign and Expatriates Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani and UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres pledged to deepen cooperation between Syria and the United Nations during talks in Damascus on Saturday, with reconstruction<\/a>, recovery and Syria\u2019s sovereignty dominating discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syrian state media also noted that the UN leader spoke at \u201ca joint press conference at Tishreen Palace following an expanded meeting attended by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Kabawat, Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh, Central Bank Governor Safwan Raslan and Syria\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ibrahim Olabi.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the first visit by a UN chief in 17 years. Syria was in a civil war<\/a> from 2011 to 2024. Syria hopes to see UN and also IMF and other support for reconstruction and for Syria\u2019s return to the international community. The US and others have worked to end sanctions on Syria. Syria is also working to re-establish air connections with numerous countries and commercial carriers.<\/p>\n

\"Syria'sSyria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and Syrian officials receive UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (3rd R) at the People’s Palace in Damascus on July 25, 2026 (credit: Bakr ALKASEM \/ AFP via Getty Images)Syria prioritizes reconstruction as millions immigrate to the country<\/p>\n

Around 3.5 million Syrians have returned to the country, Syria\u2019s state media noted. \u201cThe government\u2019s priority is rebuilding the country through legislative reforms while calling for the removal of all remaining restrictions that hinder reconstruction,\u201d the SANA report said. \u201cAl-Shaibani also said Syria had established a strategic model for peace by consolidating the state\u2019s monopoly on the use of force and stressed that Israeli violations of Syrian territory pose a direct threat to regional security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria is creating opportunities for everyone and laying the foundations for a better future for all Syrians,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cThe United Nations looks forward to cooperating with Syria in all areas and with the international community to support its future and prosperity,\u201d Guterres added.<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s President Ahmed al Shara\u2019a discussed Syria-UN cooperation as well. The UN was quick to begin to work with the new authorities in Damascus after the Assad regime fell. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher visited Damascus in December 2024.<\/p>\n

The news of the UN visit comes as Aleppo has said it is moving forward with restoration work on the UNESCO-listed Old City. Abdul Hamid Dahna, director of the Old City Directorate in Aleppo Governorate, told Syria\u2019s Al-Ikhbariya TV \u201cthat restoration work is underway on five historic markets and several landmark buildings damaged during years of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aleppo restoration plan targets historic markets and schools<\/p>\n

SANA further noted on the Aleppo restoration that \u201cthe projects, scheduled under the 2025-2026 restoration plan, include the rehabilitation of the Al-Attarin, Al-Battiya, Al-Sarmatiya, Istanbul and Al-Joukh markets. Crews are also clearing debris, reopening access routes and stabilizing damaged heritage structures, including the Shadbakhtiya and Halawiya schools. Restoration of the Halawiya School is expected to begin in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the report, the \u201cOld City Directorate is working with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums to ensure restoration complies with internationally recognized conservation principles while safeguarding the city\u2019s historic character. Encouraging residents to return to the Old City remains a priority, he said, describing their presence as essential to restoring the area\u2019s vitality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN visit and Aleppo restoration are symbols of Syria\u2019s return to the international community and its focus on reconstruction. Meanwhile, a new pipeline is supposed to connect Iraq to the port of Baniyas in Syria. “The United States has begun importing fuel oil of Iraqi origin shipped through Syria for the first time, according to shipping data and two sources familiar with the operations, as Iraq expands a Mediterranean export route established after disruptions to Gulf trade routes earlier this year,\u201d Reuters added.<\/p>\n

In other news, Syria is also working to merge a large university, called Rojava University in eastern Syria, into Syria\u2019s state institutions. In addition, Syria has graduated 1,000 new air force cadets. Also last week, Syria\u2019s Interior Minister Anas Khattab received Iraqi Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires Jubeir Shallal Aqab to discuss cooperation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres arrived in Syria on Saturday, in an important visit that Damascus sees as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[9101,21299,94,95,1243],"class_list":["post-222481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-syria","tag-antonio-guterres","tag-imf","tag-iraq","tag-syria","tag-united-nations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116981776185962262","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}