For the first time in nearly six decades, a Syrian head of state is set to speak at the United Nations. President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Monday to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session, marking Syria’s return to the world stage after years of isolation and war.

Al-Sharaa’s appearance carries heavy symbolism. No Syrian president has set foot in the General Assembly since 1967, before the Assad family seized control and ruled for more than half a century. That era ended last December, when Bashar Assad was toppled in a lightning insurgency led by al-Sharaa himself — a man whose past once placed him on Washington’s most-wanted terrorist lists.

A former al-Qaida commander with a $10 million US bounty on his head, al-Sharaa has undergone a dramatic transformation from militant leader to international statesman. His breakthrough came in May, when President Donald Trump met him in Riyadh and extended US recognition. Washington followed with the lifting of most sanctions on Damascus, signaling a bet that al-Sharaa could stabilize a country shattered by 14 years of civil war.

Since taking power, he has pushed to normalize ties with Arab neighbors and Western capitals, trying to shake off concerns about his militant past. His old faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains officially listed as a terrorist group in the United States. Inside Syria, al-Sharaa has spoken of coexistence and reconciliation, though outbreaks of sectarian violence and allegations of atrocities by his fighters have complicated his narrative of reform.

At the UN, al-Sharaa is expected not only to deliver a speech but also to press for broader sanctions relief. While Trump has loosened executive restrictions, the toughest measures — including those under the 2019 Caesar Act — remain in place and require congressional approval to remove.

Another issue is Syria’s fraught relationship with Israel. Since Assad’s fall, Israel has stepped up airstrikes on Syrian positions and seized a buffer zone once monitored by UN peacekeepers. Talks are underway on a security arrangement, with al-Sharaa openly hoping for a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement. Last week he suggested a deal could be reached within days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, poured cold water on expectations, calling such progress “a vision for the future.”

Al-Sharaa’s trip comes as Syria prepares for its first parliamentary elections since Assad’s ouster. Scheduled for October 5, the vote will not be a direct popular ballot. Instead, an electoral college system will choose two-thirds of lawmakers, while al-Sharaa himself will appoint the remaining third — a design that underscores both the logistical hurdles of postwar Syria and the limits of its new political experiment.

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With inputs from Associated Press