Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani and Syrian General Intelligence Service Director Hussein al-Salama traveled to Saudi Arabia for meetings on Sunday and Monday.
They attended “the meeting of the political directors of the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS, held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh,” Syria’s Foreign Ministry said.
Syrian state media SANA echoed the foreign ministry statement, noting that the officials arrived in Riyadh on Sunday and had joined the talks of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Syria joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in November 2025 after a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US President Donald Trump.
The Saudi Gazette reported at the time that “Syria will join the international coalition to combat the Islamic State group, marking a shift in US foreign policy in the Middle East, a senior Trump administration official has confirmed.”
The report noted that this was part of Syria entering a new era. “Trump has expressed his support for al-Sharaa, who until recently was designated a terrorist by the US government.
Syria will now be the 90th country to join the global coalition, which is aimed at eliminating remaining elements of the so-called Islamic State and stemming the flow of foreign militants to the Middle East,” the Saudi Gazette added.
Strategic partners
Saudi Arabia has hosted key meetings of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the past. In 2022, Riyadh announced it would host a meeting of the ministers of the countries involved in the coalition the following year.
“The announcement came during the Kingdom’s participation in the meeting of the political directors of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, held in The Hague on Wednesday. The Kingdom is a strategic partner in the global coalition and exerts efforts in combating terrorist entities in all their forms and manifestations. It also plays a huge role in supporting international cooperation to combat these entities,” Asharq Al-Awsat said at the time.
During a meeting in Madrid of members of the coalition, the members said they “prioritized disruption of ISIS/Daesh travel and its capability to carry out external attacks.”
They also said they “welcomed Uzbekistan as the newest member of the Coalition and lauded its invaluable leadership in addressing the ISIS-Khorasan threat before it reaches the United States, Europe, and other regions.
African members of the Coalition urged regional initiatives to counter ISIS/Daesh affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria addressed areas of cooperation with the Coalition to disrupt financial support networks and counter terrorist travel among sub-regions on the continent,” the US Department of State noted at the time.
The meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday hosted around two dozen attendees.