Bassam al-Sabbagh

His Excellency Bassam al-Sabbagh
بسام الصباغ‎
al-Sabbagh in 2018
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
In office 23 September 2024 – 8 December 2024
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali
Preceded by	Faisal Mekdad
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 17 October 2023 – 23 September 2024
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Hussein Arnous
Preceded by	Bashar Jaafari
Succeeded by	Ayman Raad
15th Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations
In office 22 November 2020 – 17 October 2023
President	Bashar al-Assad
Preceded by	Bashar Jaafari
Succeeded by	Qusay al-Dahhak
Permanent Representative of Syria to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
In office 31 October 2013 – 22 November 2020
President	Bashar al-Assad
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Milad Attiya
Ambassador to Austria
In office 2010 – 22 November 2020
President	Bashar al-Assad
Succeeded by	Hassan Khaddour
Member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party
In office 4 May 2024 – 8 December 2024
Personal details
Born	(1969-01-01) 1 January 1969 Aleppo, Syria
Political party	Ba'ath Party
Alma mater	Aleppo University Damascus Higher Institute for Political Science
Profession	Diplomat

Bassam al-Sabbagh (Arabic: بسام الصباغ; born 1 January 1969) is a Syrian diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign and Expatriates Minister of Syria from 22 September 2024 to 8 December 2024. He is the last person to serve in this position under president Bashar al-Assad and of the Syrian Arab Republic. He also served as Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations in New York City between 2020 and 2023.

Sabbagh is former Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna the United Nations Office at Vienna, its former permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and its former permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Biography

He was born on 1 January 1969 in Aleppo, Syria. In 1993, graduated from the University of Aleppo as a specialist in international relations, and has a bachelor's degree in political science from the Higher Institute of Political Science in Damascus.

He also served as Syrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2020 to 2023. He addressed the General debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2023. He was appointed as Foreign and Expatriates Minister on 23 September 2024.

Career

• 1994-1995 - Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria;
• 1995-2000 - Second, then First Secretary of the Syrian Embassy in Washington;
• 2000-2001 - Alternate Director in the Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• 2001-2006 - Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Syria to the UN (New York);
• 2006-2010 - Head of Administration at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• 2010-2013 - Permanent Representative of Syria to the UN Office (Vienna).
• 2010-2020 - Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Italy.
• 2010-2020 - Resident Representative to the IAEA, UNIDO, UNODC (Vienna).
• 2013-2020 - Permanent Representative of Syria to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (The Hague).
• 2020-2023 - Head of the Syrian Mission at the UN Headquarters in New York.
• 2023-2024 - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
• 2024-2024 - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates