Marco Rubio warns: Syria on brink of collapse, civil war very possible 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today during a Senate hearing that the regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, may be on the verge of collapse. Additionally, Rubio warned that if the regime collapses, a new civil war will erupt in the fragmented country.

Rubio's statement comes about a week after U.S. President Donald Trump met with al-Sharaa and announced the lifting of American sanctions on the country, a move that dramatically changed U.S. policy towards Syria. Rubio stated that according to the administration's assessment, considering the many challenges Syria faces, the transition government may be 'only weeks away from collapse.'

He called for cooperation with the interim president al-Sharaa, who just five months ago led a coalition of rebel groups that overthrew the former dictator Bashar al-Assad. However, the Trump administration has thus far refrained from official contacts with al-Sharaa due to his past as the head of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham – a group that was previously designated as an affiliate of al-Qaeda and is still considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

The bad news is that the leaders of the new administration have not passed all the background checks," Rubio said. "But if we don't communicate with them it certainly won't work."