Sharaa was last seen at the funeral of four top Syrian government officials who were killed in a blast in Damascus on July 18. Since then, speculation has circulated that he defected to Jordan in what would have been a blow to Bashar al-Assad's government. Jordan and Sharaa's office repeatedly denied he defected, The Associated Press reported. 

 

On Sunday, reporters saw Sharaa exit his car and walk to his office for a meeting with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran's powerful parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy.

 

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said Sharaa looked serious and steered away from reporters covering the meeting. He did not make a statement.

 

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said on Saturday that a fake email had been sent out in its name, claiming that the vice president had been sacked, adding that the "information is completely wrong."

 

Meanwhile, state television on August 19 quoted a statement from Sharaa's office saying that "he has never thought about leaving the country or going anywhere."

 

Earlier this month, Damascus denied allegations that Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem had announced on Twitter he had replaced Sharaa. SANA rejected the information as "wrong" and stressed that Muallem did not have a Twitter account.

 

Sharaa, 73, has served in senior posts for almost 30 years under both Bashar and his father and predecessor Hafez al-Assad.