Rubio Sounds Alarm as Syria Teeters on the Edge of Renewed Chaos

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Rubio Sounds Alarm as Syria Teeters on the Edge of Renewed Chaos

 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a stark warning that Syria could be mere weeks away from what he described as “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions,” as transitional authorities struggle to contain mounting violence and political instability in the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s ousting.

NOW - Rubio says Syria is "maybe weeks" away from "full-scale civil war of epic proportions." pic.twitter.com/1HCMskfW8G

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Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to lift long-standing U.S. sanctions on Syria just days before Trump met with Syria’s transitional leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander, led the rebel forces that overthrew Assad in December and now heads a fragile and deeply divided interim government.

 

According to Rubio, Trump’s rationale for lifting sanctions was grounded in pragmatism. “Nations in the region want to get aid in, want to start helping them. And they can't because they are afraid of our sanctions,” he explained. Trump’s move, while surprising to many, was aimed at removing barriers for international support and humanitarian assistance to flow into the devastated country.

 

There has been no comment yet from Syrian officials, but Sharaa has publicly hailed the decision, calling it “a historic and courageous decision, which alleviates the suffering of the people, contributes to their rebirth and lays the foundations for stability in the region.”

 

However, the picture on the ground remains dire. The U.S. initially imposed sanctions in response to atrocities committed by Assad's forces during Syria’s brutal 13-year civil war, which claimed over 600,000 lives and displaced more than 12 million people. The State Department had maintained that sanctions would only be lifted if key conditions were met, including the protection of ethnic and religious minorities. While Sharaa has pledged to uphold those protections, recent waves of sectarian violence have left hundreds dead and fueled widespread distrust.

 

In March, nearly 900 civilians—predominantly members of Assad’s Alawite sect—were killed by pro-government loyalists in a bloody confrontation with security forces along Syria’s western coast. The loyalist forces were also responsible for the deaths of 450 civilians and 170 security personnel, according to a monitoring group.

 

Then, in early May, more than 100 people reportedly died during fierce clashes involving Druze gunmen, the new security forces, and allied Sunni Islamist fighters in and around Damascus and the southern Suweida province. These incidents have only intensified the fears of minority communities, many of whom are uneasy under a transitional government dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist faction and a former al-Qaeda affiliate still labeled a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.

 

Despite being officially designated a “specially designated global terrorist” by the U.S., Sharaa appears to have gained political traction. In December, the Biden administration announced the withdrawal of the $10 million bounty previously offered for his capture. Trump, during a summit of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia last week, met with Sharaa and offered unexpectedly warm praise. “He’s a young, attractive guy,” Trump told reporters. “Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter. He’s got a real shot at pulling it [Syria] together. It’s a torn-up country.”

 

Rubio, however, remains cautiously optimistic yet pragmatic. “The bad news is that the transitional authority figures... didn't pass their background check with the FBI,” he quipped. “But on the flip side of it is, if we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them it was guaranteed to not work out.”

 

His assessment is bleak: “It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up.” He added that minority groups are still “dealing with deep internal distrust... because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other.”

 

In a significant development, European Union foreign ministers have followed the U.S. lead, agreeing to lift economic sanctions on Syria. “We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” wrote EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X. “The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years—and will keep doing so.”

 

Syria’s foreign ministry welcomed the decision, calling it “the beginning of a new chapter in Syrian-European relations built on shared prosperity and mutual respect.” Still, the road ahead remains treacherous, and whether the international community’s gamble on Sharaa will stabilize Syria—or plunge it back into chaos—remains uncertain.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC  2025-05-22