Syria’s interim president has made his first trip abroad, traveling to Saudi Arabia in a move likely trying to signal Damascus’ shift away from Iran as its main regional ally.

Shara’s trip to Riyadh, where he spent his childhood, offers clues about his vision for a post-Assad Syria. Syria’s newly appointed interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first foreign trip since his rebel coalition ousted the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad,

Saudi Arabia is pushing world governments to lift international sanctions on Damascus as it looks to shape the future of a country once firmly under Tehran’s influence.