US 'welcomes' meeting between Syrian regime and Arab foreign ministers

The US has reportedly welcomed a meeting between Syrian regime Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his counterparts from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, in what appears to be a break from its earlier policy of isolating the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting took place earlier this week in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The UAE-based newspaper The National reported that a representative from the US National Security Council told it that the administration of US President Joe Biden was "encouraged" that the meeting's joint communique "mentioned many priorities that we and our partners share".

"We sincerely hope that the Syrian regime will follow through on its commitments, in good faith and in accordance with international norms," the representative, who The National didn't name, reportedly said.

The representative's remarks contrast sharply with previous US statements opposing normalisation with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has been internationally isolated ever since it violently suppressed peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011 and plunged Syria into a devastating civil war.

In September last year, a US official told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Washington "does not express any support for efforts to rehabilitate the Syrian regime or Bashar al-Assad".

However, The National reported a State Department representative as saying: "We look forward to discussing and assessing the outcome of the meeting and will continue to make our position clear that UNSCR 2254 remains the only viable solution."

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 calls for a negotiated solution to the Syrian conflict and a political transition in the country.

Perhaps the #Biden White House missed the #Assad regime "readout" from the #Amman meeting.

The U.S. policy on opposing normalization is now virtually meaningless -- not even worth the paper it's written on. https://t.co/sSIUCet37x

— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) May 2, 2023

The National Security Council representative said that the US supported engagement with the regime if it led to "credible steps to improve the humanitarian and security situation for Syrians".

The US has previously voiced its opposition to the Assad regime and imposed sanctions under the Caesar Act, citing the torture and killing of thousands of political detainees and the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

However, Arab states have in recent years been normalising ties with the regime, and this gathered pace following the devastating earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria last February.

Following the earthquake, the US also suspended some sanctions on the Syrian regime.