US makes plans to reopen embassy in Syria after 14 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war.

A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of the State Department’s “intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Syria.”

The Feb. 10 notification said that spending on the plans would begin in 15 days, or next week, although there was no timeline offered for when they would be complete or when U.S. personnel might return to Damascus on a full-time basis.

The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year, shortly after longtime strongman Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, and it has been a priority for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.

Barrack has pushed for a deep rapprochement with Syria and its new leadership under former rebel Ahmad al-Sharaa and has successfully advocated for the lifting of U.S. sanctions and a reintegration of Syria into the regional and international communities.

Trump told reporters on Friday that al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president. “He’s a rough guy. He’s not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it,” Trump said. “But Syria’s coming together.”

Last May, Barrack visited Damascus and raised the U.S. flag at the embassy compound, although the embassy was not yet re-opened.

The same day the congressional notification was sent, Barrack lauded Syria’s decision to participate in the coalition that is combating the Islamic State militant group, even as the U.S. military has withdrawn from a small, but important, base in the southeast and there remain significant issues between the government and the Kurdish minority.

“Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-ISIS Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Barrack said.

The embassy re-opening plans are classified and the State Department declined to comment on details beyond confirming that the congressional notification was sent.

However, the department has taken a similar “phased” approach in its plans to re-open the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following the U.S. military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January, with the deployment of temporary staffers who would live in and work out of interim facilities.