Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrives in Riyadh for second meeting with Prince Mohammed in a matter of weeks

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh with a delegation of four ministers and the intelligence chief. Meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the signing of agreements are expected. The visit follows Damascus's statement on negotiations over the Mecca Defense Pact.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 4 November 2026 at 15:012 min read

The key facts

Al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh with the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, finance and industry and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate
Discussions of bilateral issues and the signing of agreements in various sectors are planned
This is the second visit to Saudi Arabia in a matter of weeks; he previously visited on October 6 and in April

The visit and the composition of the delegation

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday with a high-level delegation, reported Syria's state news agency Sana. The delegation included the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, finance and industry, as well as the head of the General Intelligence Directorate. According to Sana, al-Sharaa will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss a number of bilateral issues and sign several agreements in various sectors.

Third visit in a year and the context of defense talks

This is already al-Sharaa's second visit to Saudi Arabia in a matter of weeks: on October 6 he also traveled to Riyadh and met with Prince Mohammed, and in April he held a meeting with him in Jeddah, where the regional situation, bilateral ties, economic and investment relations, and 'regional connectivity projects' were discussed. The new visit came after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that Damascus views Gulf security as part of its own and is holding 'some negotiations' on integration into the Mecca Defense Pact, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, which treats an attack on one party as an attack on all. According to him, Syria will support any organization that protects regional security, regardless of whether it joins the agreement. The National also notes that in recent weeks Saudi Arabia has been subjected to repeated drone and missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen, targeting airports, oil facilities and military sites. Since al-Sharaa came to power in 2024 after the rebel offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia has become a major investor in Syria.