President Donald Trump formally lifted US sanctions against Syria. Damascus said it expects the move will "lift the obstacle" to economic recovery.
US PresidentDonald Trumpon Monday signed an executive order to dismantle theUSsanctions program onSyria, ending the Middle Eastern country's isolation from the international financial system.
The sanctions program, which has been in place since 2004, imposed far-reaching sanctions on Syria that affected most state institutions, including the central bank.
"This is in an effort to promote and support the country's path to stability and peace," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters,
Leavitt added that the move will enable the US to maintain sanctions on Syria's former president,Bashar Assad, and his associates, as well as on human rights abusers, drug traffickers, individuals involved in chemical weapons activities, the Islamic State, ISIS affiliates, and Iranian proxies.
Trump's order also instructs the US State Department to review the designation of the Islamist groupHayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)as a foreign terrorist organization. The Syrian transitional government has largely emerged from this group.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also to review Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as that of Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a terrorist.
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Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani said the US move marked a "major turning point," according to a post by the minister on social media platform X.
"With the lifting of this major obstacle to economic recovery, the long-awaited doors are opening forreconstruction and development" as are the conditions "for the dignified return of displaced Syrians to their homeland," he wrote on X.
Trump had alreadyexempted Syria from most of the sanctions in Mayin response to appeals fromSaudi Arabia and Turkey.
In December, Assad was ousted in a swift offensive led by Islamist rebels under the command of al-Sharaa. Since then, Syria has taken steps to rebuild its international ties.