Phone call between Secretary of State and Syrian foreign minister follows President Donald Trump's signing of executive order terminating US sanctions program on Syria
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to consider reviewing both domestic and UN terrorist designations related to Syria during a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, the State Department said Thursday.
"The Secretary affirmed he would consider further steps reviewing domestic and United Nations terrorist designations related to Syria," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in the readout of the call.
The call followed President Donald Trump's move to terminate US sanctions and the national emergency related to Syria.
According to the US readout, Rubio reaffirmed that sanctions on “malign actors,” including former President Bashar al-Assad and his associates, would remain in place. He expressed hope, however, that the steps taken “will mark the beginning of a new chapter for both the Syrian people and U.S.-Syria relations.”
The two men also discussed countering terrorism, Iran, Israel-Syria relations and destroying any remnants of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program, Bruce said.
Trump announced at an investment forum in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 13 that he would lift the “brutal and crippling” sanctions on Syria. A day later, he held a landmark meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia—the first meeting between US and Syrian leaders in 25 years.
Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly a quarter century, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, marking the end of the Baath Party's decades-long rule, which began in 1963.
Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces that ousted Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.
