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(CNN) -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the United States will remove Syria from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Rubio said in a statement: 'Lifting sanctions on Syria will open the door to international trade and investment, give it a chance to rebuild, and open a new chapter for the Syrian people.'

He added: 'A stable and unified Syria, at peace with itself and its neighbors, benefits not only the region but the entire world.'

Rubio explained that the US administration informed Congress on Wednesday of its intention to lift this designation after a 45-day prior notification period.

There had been bipartisan pressure in Congress to lift this designation, in place since December 1979, with lawmakers saying the rationale for the punitive designation no longer existed after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

President Donald Trump had hinted at lifting the designation earlier Wednesday during a meeting with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.

The decision follows a series of US steps toward normalizing ties with Syria. Last year, the Trump administration removed the designation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, also known as Jabhat al-Nusra and led by the president himself, as a foreign terrorist organization.