US Company Signs Deal for Syrian Oil

The devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkiye in February has sparked a region-wide conversation about the possibility of Arab states directly engaging with Damascus and bypassing the US sanctions that have crippled its economy. Among the potential candidates capable of initiating a once-unthinkable move, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands out, mainly due to its considerable clout in Washington, which could be leveraged for sanctions exemptions – similar to concessions granted to India and Turkiye over Russian energy imports... At the Munich Security Conference last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud stated that the Arab region is moving towards a consensus against Syria’s isolation...

Saudi Arabia and Syria are in talks on resuming consular services, Saudi state media said Thursday, more than a decade after the Gulf kingdom cut ties with President Bashar al-Assad's regime. "A discussion is underway between officials in the kingdom and their counterparts in Syria about resuming the provision of consular services," state-affiliated channel Al-Ekhbariya said, citing a Saudi foreign ministry official. The report gave no timeline for the move, which would mark the latest Saudi step towards mending rifts with regional rivals...

The deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia will meet in April in Moscow, Turkish and Iranian officials said on Tuesday, building on contacts between Ankara and Damascus after years of hostilities during the Syrian war. Encouraged by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia, Syrian and Turkish officials held meetings last year, in a move towards normalising ties between states on opposing sides of Syria's 12-year-long conflict...

The Pentagon said Thursday that an additional six troops were injured in attacks last week in northeastern Syria that U.S. officials have blamed on Iranian-backed militants. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said the six were in addition to the death of an American contractor and the wounding of six troops and another contractor in the two separate attacks...

US military officials confirmed that the commander-in-chief of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazlum Kobane, was targeted in a drone strike in the Iraqi Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah Friday. Three US military personnel were in the convoy with Kobane at the time of the attack, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. There were no casualties, US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Col. Joe Buccino told Al-Monitor...