Two explosions went off in Damascus on Tuesday near the hotel where President Emmanuel Macron of France is staying, according to Syrian government officials, as he began the first official visit by a major Western leader to Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Mr. Macron was not at the hotel, the Four Seasons, at the time of the explosion, one official said, and state media in Syria published photographs of the country’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, welcoming him to his official residence in Damascus soon after the blast.

The office of the French president confirmed that Mr. Macron was safe and that his schedule in Syria would continue as planned.

Syria’s deputy tourism minister, Faraj al-Qashqoush, was injured in the explosions, according to a Syrian official. At least 18 other people were also injured, including four police officers, according to the Syrian Interior Ministry.

Security forces detected the explosive devices as they swept the area and were preparing to defuse them when they were detonated, according to the Interior Ministry.

One of the blasts was caused by an improvised explosive device planted in a trash can opposite the hotel and the other was placed in a parked car nearby, one of the Syrian officials said, adding that several other suspicious objects had been identified. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment to the news media.

Both explosives were outside the designated security perimeter for Mr. Macron’s visit and posed no direct threat, the Interior Ministry said. A large search operation was underway to identify those responsible, the ministry added.

Syria has faced serious security challenges even after the ouster of the Assad dictatorship ended a brutal civil war, including attacks targeting the government and the military. The blasts on Tuesday occurred just days after a bomb exploded in a crowded cafe in Damascus, Syria’s capital, killing at least six people and wounding about two dozen others.

Mr. Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday night, the first trip to Syria by a European Union leader since the Assad regime was overthrown in late 2024 by a coalition of rebel groups led by Mr. al-Sharaa’s Islamist faction. Mr. al-Sharaa, who later became Syria’s president, visited France last year.

Syria has been welcomed back to the international stage after years as a pariah state under Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian president, whose regime killed tens of thousands during the war, disappeared many more into prisons where they were tortured or executed, and used chemical weapons against civilian populations.

Mr. al-Sharaa has sought to bolster foreign relations as Syria emerges from more than a decade of war. The country needs billions of dollars for reconstruction and is seeking investment to rebuild a battered economy.

Mr. al-Sharaa has characterized Mr. Macron’s visit as a milestone in bilateral relations with France and said that the countries would sign economic agreements during the visit, according to state media. France would contribute to rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, industry, financial sector and institutions, he said.

Mr. Macron’s delegation to Syria includes investors and representatives of French companies, according to Syrian state media.

Syria has sought to highlight its strategic importance during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, when the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for oil and gas shipments, was blocked. Syria has tried to position itself as an alternative, with Iraq and some Persian Gulf states shipping oil and other goods through the country for export from its Mediterranean Sea ports.

Catherine Porter contributed reporting from Paris.