US wants Syrian government to succeed, alternative is ‘full-scale civil war’: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington supports efforts to help the new Syrian government succeed, warning that failure could lead to war and regional instability, Anadolu reports.

“We want to help that government succeed, because the alternative is full-scale civil war and chaos, which would, of course, destabilize the entire region,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“In fact, 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 said.

He added that US officials, including embassy staff in Turkiye, would coordinate with local partners to assess Syria’s needs, especially regarding the aid they need for law enforcement.

“When Syria is unstable, the region becomes unstable,” said Rubio.

He said lifting sanctions could enable neighboring countries to support the Syrian government in building governance mechanisms.

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US President Donald Trump announced his intention last week to lift sanctions on Syria during a Saudi-US Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh.

In response to a question about the Syrian government’s fight against terrorism, particularly ISIS (Daesh), Rubio said the terror group “hates” the new administration because it poses “a grave risk to them.” He noted that the issue is not one of willingness but of capability, citing the new administration’s limited capacity as a barrier in its fight against ISIS.

Each day authorities do not have control or are unable to provide basic government services “is a day that ISIS has the ability to reconstitute itself,” Rubio warned. He added that the US would remain in Syria for an interim period to ensure ISIS cannot “metastasize and grow.”

Rubio said it is encouraging that Syria has a unifying national identity, noting that it is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Alawis, Druze, Christians, Sunnis, Shias and Kurds have historically lived together under a shared Syrian identity.

“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,” Rubio underlined.

The remarks follow recent efforts, including Trump’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia and Rubio’s meeting with Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Turkiye.

Al-Sharaa signed a constitutional declaration in March, setting a five-year transitional phase for the country.

Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.

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