Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is in New York for the UN General Assembly, with diplomacy and reconstruction for his war-torn country on his agenda. But before he took the stage at the global gathering, the Syrian leader was caught doing something extremely ordinary: scrolling through his Instagram.
A video of al-Sharaa from inside the General Assembly hall has gone viral on social media, which appears to show the Syrian leader watching short videos, more popularly known as reels, on his phone while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was addressing world leaders. This is al-Sharaa’s second appearance at the UN General Assembly since 2025, after he became the first Syrian president to do so in nearly six decades. Before al-Sharaa, the last time a Syrian head of state attended the General Assembly was in 1967. That was before the 50-year rule of the Assad family dynasty, which came to an end in December 2024 when then-President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning insurgent offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad’s fall also brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war.
Speaking to reporters in New York, he said an Israeli withdrawal from a self-declared security zone in Syrian territory is a necessary first step before talks can be held on reaching agreements between the two countries, He also indicated that “lasting peace” was an achievable dream. “The Golan Heights is Syrian territory under recognition of the United Nations…So there is no discussion,” he said.
