Watch: Syrian President busy scrolling Instagram reels as leaders spoke at UNGA

As world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appeared to have his attention elsewhere — scrolling through Instagram Reels on his smartphone.

Candid footage from the UNGA showed al-Sharaa casually using his phone, scrolling through Instagram and sending Reels, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking from the podium, reports Kurdistan 24.Syria President AL-SHARAA CHECKS SOCIAL MEDIA mid UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY https://t.co/8vsr2jpwZU pic.twitter.com/a4Ekfqg4cb— RT (@RT_com) September 22, 2026

This is the second time al-Sharaa has attended the UN General Assembly after becoming the first representative of Syria to address world leaders at the UNGA in almost 60 years in 2025.

Al-Sharaa became Syria's interim president in January 2025 after leading the rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, nearly 130 heads of state and government, including US President Donald Trump, took the podium on Tuesday as the high-level general debate of the annual UN General Assembly opened.

The debate is the key event of the UNGA's annual session, which began on September 8, when Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh took office as president.