• United Nations
• Middle East and North Africa
• Rishi Iyengar
• John Haltiwanger

September 24, 2025, 6:24 PM View Comments ()

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we are at the midway point of a packed UNGA week.

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Ahmed al-Sharaa introduces himself to the world, U.S. political violence in the spotlight, and a couple of celebrity encounters.

Sharaa’s Successful PR Tour

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday was extraordinary for an array of reasons. The Syrian leader is a former al Qaeda insurgent who previously fought the United States in Iraq, where he spent time in the infamous U.S.-run Camp Bucca prison. And until last December, he had a $10 million bounty on his head. Sharaa is also the first Syrian leader to participate in UNGA since 1967—and he spoke before the global body even as he remains under U.N. sanctions related to terrorism.

“Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,” Sharaa said in his speech, calling for any remaining sanctions on his country to be lifted.

Sharaa’s remarkable journey from jihadi to world leader has been a major topic of conversation at UNGA. Many are still skeptical that he’s the best choice to lead Syria forward after a long and devastating civil war. Since an offensive spearheaded by the rebel group he led successfully overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December, there have been concerns about sectarian violence and targeting of religious minorities.

Sharaa used his UNGA speech as an opportunity to reassure his doubters that he is committed to opening a new chapter in Syria’s history defined by peace, tolerance, and cooperation with the international community. “Syria has now transformed from an exporter of crises to an opportunity for peace,” he said. “I guarantee that we will bring to justice everyone found responsible for bloodshed.” Sharaa also said he was “committed to dialogue.”

UNGA has been Sharaa’s chance to pitch himself to the world, and he has not wasted the moment—even sitting down for a chat with retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw Sharaa’s imprisonment in Iraq while commanding U.S. forces in the country.

Maya Ungar, a U.N. analyst at the International Crisis Group who has been on the ground at UNGA, told SitRep that Sharaa “has had a very convincing PR run for the past week with some of his biggest detractors.”

Ungar said Sharaa’s speech on Wednesday was “really meant to, without a shadow of a doubt, shut down some of the concerns that his detractors have about engagement with Syria” and was designed to “attract and reach out to potentially new investors and new companies to be paying attention to him.”

The speech was also about introducing the “new Syria to the broader international community,” she said. This was Sharaa’s chance to “brush off his suit” and “cut his beard a bit shorter” and show up to UNGA to say, “I am the new president of Syria, and I should be treated as such, not as my background.”

Sharaa’s presence has also been an emotional moment for some members of the local Syrian diaspora, who have flocked to the U.N. security barricades.

“You have huge amounts of the community who are out as close as they can get to the barriers,” Ungar said. “I was out with them to see what the mood and attitude was like about an hour ago, just before Sharaa started speaking. And there were tears. There was a sense of excitement, a sense of disbelief, that this time has finally come where Syria can turn over a new leaf.”

Sharaa in his speech also slammed Israel for the airstrikes it has conducted in Syria, which comes as the United States pushes for a de-escalation agreement between the two countries. “The tone and the weight” with which he talked about Israel in his speech “shows that we still have a bit of a way to go” in terms of reaching such an agreement, Ungar said, emphasizing that the development of this relationship is a space to watch closely.

Elephant in the Room

U.S. political violence takes center stage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and at least one other world leader addressed recent political violence in the United States—particularly the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk—in their speeches at UNGA on Wednesday. Their remarks highlighted how this issue is among the many elephants in the room as world leaders and diplomats gather at the U.N. headquarters in New York City this week.

“Yesterday, President Trump stood right here in this hall, and God saved him from a murder attempt during the campaign. A shot was fired from a rifle, and just a fraction of an inch saved his life. Just days ago, the president, along with hundreds of thousands of Americans, honored the memory of Charlie Kirk. Sadly, his life was cut short by a bullet—once again, violence with a rifle in hand,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky also mentioned the recent killing of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian woman who was fatally stabbed in North Carolina. “She was brutally killed with a knife here in America, the very country where she was seeking refuge from Russia’s war,” he said.

Later in the day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also mentioned Kirk in his address to UNGA. Vucic said Kirk was “savagely assassinated” because his alleged killer “did not like his ideas.” Though the suspect allegedly sent a text message that said he’d had “enough” of Kirk’s “hatred,” much remains unknown about the suspected gunman and his political ideology, and the investigation is ongoing.

Day 3 of UNGA also coincided with yet another instance of violence in the United States that appears to have been politically motivated, though details are still emerging. In the latest incident, a person shot and killed at least one migrant detainee and critically injured two others at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Texas. Joe Rothrock, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, said the attack was “targeted violence” and that rounds found near the shooter—who died of a self-inflicted gun wound—contained messages that were “anti-ICE in nature.” No law enforcement personnel were injured in the attack.

U.N. Tidbits

Visa issues. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke at UNGA on Wednesday, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held meetings in New York. But Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh didn’t make it to the gathering because the United States did not issue him a visa, according to a spokesperson for the Iranian mission to the U.N. The U.S. State Department declined to comment on why his visa wasn’t issued, citing visa record confidentiality. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also address UNGA via videoconference on Thursday after the Trump administration denied visas to him and some other Palestinian officials.

Celeb spotting. It’s not just diplomats who make their way to UNGA—the gathering and its side events also bring a host of celebrities. Last year, SitRep spotted actors Meryl Streep, Edward Norton, and Matt Damon at the confab. This week, we walked past actor Amber Valletta (of Hitch and Transporter 2 fame), who was named a U.N. Environment Program goodwill ambassador on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we found ourselves in a room with musician-turned-tech entrepreneur will.i.am, who is an ambassador for the U.N. tech agency, the International Telecommunication Union. That agency is partnering with Google to start a $1 million artificial intelligence and robotics training program for students in five African countries. “This is the last time humans will look to older humans for wisdom,” the Black Eyed Peas co-founder told a small group of reporters. “That ain’t happening in 2040, bro. It’s going to be looking to some machine for wisdom. … This is it, for us to get it right.”

Hot Mic

Aside from his rambling UNGA address on Tuesday (the longest-ever U.N. speech by a U.S. president), Trump made news by suddenly reversing his policy on the Russia-Ukraine war and saying Ukraine could win back all of its territory—and maybe even take some of Russia’s.

As leaders, particularly those in Europe, process what that vibe shift might mean for them, European Union foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas sat down with FP’s Ravi Agrawal hours after Trump’s social media announcement. “I met with the Ukrainians after their meeting with President Trump. They were very, very happy. It’s been a good day,” she said. Asked what might have prompted Trump’s shift, she said: “Maybe he got the data about how the Russian economy is doing and how they are actually not winning this war. Maybe New York has positive effects on him.”

Kallas’s native Estonia, which accused Russia of violating its airspace last week, also reacted to another part of Trump’s statement that NATO countries should shoot down those planes in the future. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin only understands the language of strength, and that’s exactly the language Trump spoke yesterday,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

What We’re Watching on Thursday

9 a.m. General debate begins, and Abbas addresses UNGA virtually after being denied a U.S. visa.

An UNGA high-level meeting on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being is expected to take place.