Syrian President Sharaa says no involvement in Iran war unless 'targeted'
Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Mon, 03/30/2026 - 13:45
At Chatham House, Sharaa says Syria must avoid becoming 'arena of war' again, as protesters chanted outside
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to Bronwen Maddox at the Chatham House think tank in London (MEE/Alex MacDonald) Off Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Damascus will stay out of the Israeli-US war on Iran unless his country comes under attack, during a visit to London on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Chatham House think tank in central London, Sharaa repeatedly stressed his desire to keep Syria out of a new conflict after 14 years of civil war.
"We will not be in it unless we are subjected to it and there is no diplomatic solution," he said.
Sharaa arrived more than 75 minutes late to Chatham House as police struggled to ensure the president could safely enter and leave the building.
A number of British-Syrian organisations opposed to Sharaa staged a protest outside Chatham House as the event was beginning, accusing the president of being a "terrorist" and targeting minorities.
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It is unclear if the protest impacted his attendance, which came as part of a diplomatic tour of European countries aimed at securing economic assistance for the war-torn country.
The Syrian president visited Germany on Monday and met Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said he expects 800,000 refugees in Germany to leave for Syria before 2030.
'We do not have a problem with Iran [being] in Tehran we have a problem with Iran [being] in Damascus'
- President Ahmed al-Sharaa
Last week, Talal al-Hilali, the director of the Syria Investment Authority, visited London to meet representatives from construction companies and financial institutions.
Syria hopes to attract significant foreign investment as it seeks to rebuild its economy.
"We suffer from losing more than 10 million people who left Syria and we have missing people whose numbers are close to 250,000," said Sharaa.
In response to a question, Sharaa said his government had not established relations with Iran, pointing to its support of Bashar al-Assad's government during the Syrian war.
"No doubt that Iran's interventions in Syria over the past 14 years helped the former regime displace Syrians," he said.
"We do not have a problem with Iran [being] in Tehran we have a problem with Iran [being] in Damascus."
Alevi and Alawite protesters hold placards accusing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa of overseeing the massacre of Alawites in Syria (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
He cited Iran's development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, the latter long denied by Tehran, as another source of instability, as well as their "interference" in neighbouring countries.
However, he said that Damascus puts negotiations first and foremost when it came to international tensions.
"Syria may be targeted. This is a possibility," he said.
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"We do not want to start aggression on anyone. We do not want Syria to be an arena of war."
Alawite protest
Since overthrowing Assad in December 2024, Sharaa's government – whose now liquidated group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham was a former al-Qaeda affiliate – has struggled to maintain order as community tensions have spilled over into violence.
Last year, armed attacks on security forces by suspected Assad loyalists in the coastal Alawite heartland of Latakia spiralled into brutal sectarian bloodshed.
At least 1,500 Alawites, a religious group that the Assad family belonged to, were killed in the subsequent violence, with a Reuters investigation tracing much of it back to security officials in Damascus.
A group of British-Syrian Alawites and Alevis (a similar but distinct community) staged a protest outside Chatham House on Tuesday, denouncing Sharaa as a "terrorist".
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They were met by a number of counter-protesters holding the Syrian flag who chanted "losers" and "cry harder" at them.
Organised by the Syrian Coastal Society, demonstrators held placards arguing that Alawites were facing a "genocide" in Syria and calling for the UK government not to grant "legitimacy" for Sharaa.
A ruckus outside Chatham House as Alawite and Alevi groups chant "terrorist" ahead of Ahmed al-Sharaa's talk while counter-protesters chant "loser!" pic.twitter.com/VNj5K7TgEr — Alex MacDonald (@AlexJayMac) March 31, 2026
"At a time when Syrians continue to endure displacement, insecurity, and marginalisation, allowing such a figure to enter the UK risks sending the wrong message: that accountability can be overlooked, and that those associated with violence can be normalised on the international stage," said Maher Hamadouch, director of the Syrian Coastal Society.
Hamadouch, who has previously defended Assad's rule over Syria, told Middle East Eye that they were calling on the UK government to deny "any platform or legitimacy to individuals linked to extremist activity or human rights abuses".
"[Sharaa’s] record is inseparable from violence, sectarianism, and the repression of civilian populations in Syria," he added.
Israeli attacks
Sharaa's government has also struggled to handle the fallout from Israeli attacks, both on Syria itself and neighbouring countries.
The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that more than 200,000 people had fled Lebanon for Syria since Israel resumed its attacks on the country last month.
Rebuilding Syria’s northeast: Damascus’ toughest test yet Read More »
Israeli strikes across Lebanon, as well as an extensive ground invasion, have killed more than 1,200 people.
"Nearly a month after hostilities intensified in Lebanon, Syria has seen a sharp rise in people crossing the border from Lebanon," Aseer al-Madaien, UNHCR's interim representative in Syria, told a press conference by video link from Damascus.
Following the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when government forces opened fire on pro-democracy activists, at least 1.5 million Syrians poured into Lebanon to escape the violence.
Since the overthrow of Assad many have begun returning, although continuing instability and air strikes by Israel have made many wary of making the journey.
Sharaa said the return of Syrian refugees would not and should not be simple, pointing out that many had built new lives abroad and should not have to start again from scratch.
"We should not do this by just sending airplanes for people to go back. They may want to leave again," he said.
"This process must be managed well…refugees have a right to return voluntarily and with dignity."
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