Sharaa, met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.

Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the movement to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, is visiting patron Turkey after visiting Saudi Arabia in his first foreign tour

The visit by Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to the Gulf Arab state could signal his government's strategy of moving away from Iranian influence. Ousted leader Bashar Assad was backed by Tehran.