Syria’s Main Airport Handles First International Flights Since Fall of Assad Regime

Syria’s main airport handled its first international flights on Tuesday since the fall of the government of former President Bashar al-Assad last month, as the new leaders press to reassert a semblance of normalcy in the war-weary country.

One Qatar Airways plane landed following a direct flight from Doha to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Jordan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that it had also sent an initial flight to Damascus on Tuesday morning as a “message of support” to its northern neighbor, the first trip there by its national carrier in 13 years.

Another flight affiliated with Syria’s national carrier took off on Tuesday for the United Arab Emirates carrying 145 passengers, according to Syrian state media. Video shared by Syrian media showed people on board waving Syrian flags and singing nationalist songs.

Syria’s new Islamist leaders have pledged to convene a committee to draft an inclusive constitution for the country. They have urged civil servants to come back to work in an effort to get the machinery of government up and running, and they insist that Syria no longer poses any threat to its neighbors.

But the country remains under a host of international sanctions imposed during the regime of Mr. al-Assad. And the new interim government is run by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which many countries have blacklisted as a terrorist group for its erstwhile ties to Al Qaeda, although it broke with the group several years ago.

Western leaders have responded to the new administration with a mix of optimism and caution, fearing that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham could impose Islamist rule on the country or generate a new wave of domestic turmoil. They have called for an inclusive political transition.

“Europe will support, but Europe will not be a patron of new Islamist structures,” said Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, during a visit to Damascus last week.

The sanctions are one of the greatest obstacles for Syria’s new administration as it tries to chart a path forward. As soon as Mr. al-Assad fled the country in December, one of the first requests of Ahmed al-Shara, the leader of the rebel coalition that overthrew the government, was for the United States and others to begin easing restrictions.

On Monday, the Biden administration lifted some restrictions on humanitarian aid to Syria. Still, it kept strict sanctions in place, a reflection of how Western governments are carefully calibrating their approach to the new leaders.

Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, Syria’s new foreign minister, welcomed the Biden administration’s decision to loosen the restrictions. At a news conference in Jordan on Tuesday after a meeting with the Jordanian foreign minister, he called for the remaining sanctions to be lifted immediately, arguing that Mr. al-Assad’s downfall had removed any reason to keep them in place.

“Those economic sanctions are now being wielded against the Syrian people, even as the reason they were imposed is no more,” Mr. al-Shibani said. “They should have been canceled as soon as the previous regime was toppled.”