📰 Security Council visits Syria for first time since 1945

Damascus, Dec. 4, 2025 (SANA) Representatives of the 15 member states of the United Nations Security Council carried out their first-ever visit to Syria since the Council’s founding in 1945, coinciding with the anniversary of liberation from the former regime. The delegation toured Damascus, visiting Jobar neighborhood to assess the destruction caused by the former regime’s bombardment. They also toured multiple heritage sites in Old Damascus, including Beit al-Wali Hotel in Bab Touma and the Umayyad Mosque, accompanied by Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi, and Deputy Special Envoy of the UN to Syria, Najat Rochdi.

Later, the delegation met with leader Ahmad al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace. The visit marks the first Security Council consensus in 14 years on Syrian issues and includes meetings with Syrian authorities, civil society representatives, and fact-finding committees regarding events in the coastal region and Sweida, alongside discussions with Deputy UN Special Envoy Rochdi. UN Security Council visits are rare and require unanimous agreement among the 15 members. In past decades, the Council has visited only four countries: Angola in 1992, the former Yugoslavia in 1993, Kosovo in 2001, and Colombia in 2024.

The Security Council, established under the UN Charter in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, consists of 15 members. Five permanent members – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China – hold veto power. The remaining 10 non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms, with geographic distribution guidelines. The Council can adopt binding measures, including ceasefires, sanctions, travel bans, diplomatic restrictions, and, in extreme cases, collective armed forces action.

All UN member states are obligated to implement its decisions.