The United States (US) is preparing to largely withdraw its remaining troops from Syria over the next few months, a senior White House official has told the BBC.
The official stated that the Syrian government had agreed to take the lead in fighting terrorism within its borders and that a "large-scale" US military presence was no longer necessary.
US troops have been in Syria since 2015, as part of a counter-terrorism campaign aimed at countering the influence of the extremist organization Islamic State (IS).
The decision comes as US President Donald Trump is ramping up his military presence in the Middle East, amid rising tensions with Iran.
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The official noted that the decision to withdraw the approximately 1.000 remaining troops from Syria is part of a transition based on meeting conditions, and that the US remains ready to respond to any threat in the region.
The news comes at a time of increased US troop presence in the region, especially near Iran.
BBC Verify previously confirmed the location of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln - equipped with guided missile destroyers and dozens of fighter jets - near Iran.
The US has reportedly also sent the USS "Gerald R. Ford", the largest warship in the world, to the Middle East, and it is expected to arrive in the region in the next three weeks.
Senior national security officials told CBS News, the BBC's American partner, that Trump said the US military would be ready for potential strikes on Iran as early as Saturday, although Trump has not yet made a final decision.
In Syria, US troops already left two bases earlier this year: the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria and the al-Shadadi base in the northeast.
These developments followed the fall of the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, as well as the weakening of the Islamic State, with a significant improvement in security in Syria.
Since then, the Trump administration has sought to strengthen diplomatic ties with Damascus and increase its partnership with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharrah.
Al-Shara visited Trump at the White House in November, the first such visit by a Syrian leader in the country's history.
His government has occasionally clashed with local militias, but an agreement was reached in January that would see the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces integrated into Syria's armed forces.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, last week to discuss maintaining the ceasefire. Rubio also expressed concern about the continued fight against terrorism.
In December, a translator and two members of the Iowa National Guard were killed in an ambush by a lone Islamic State gunman in Palmyra, Syria, the Pentagon said.
The Trump administration responded with a series of raids against the Islamic State, dubbed Operation "Hawkeye Strike."
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