France's Macron to hold post-Assad visit to Damascus: Why the Syria stopover?

As Iran buries its late Supreme Leader who was killed last February, Hamas has announced it will disarm. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is going to Damascus. The visit will be the first for a French head of state since Nicolas Sarkozy met the deposed President Bachar Al-Assad in 2009. The timing of this visit raises questions, as well as the objectives of the French President when meeting his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa.