US President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating US sanctions on Syria, aiming to boost the nation’s struggling economy and support the new government after rebels overthrew President Bashar Al-Assad last year.The order removes various sanctions on Syria effective July 1 while keeping those on Assad, “his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS or its affiliates, and Iranian proxies,” according to the White House.Trump’s move is part of an effort to “promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. “He’s committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified and at peace with itself and its neighbors.”The order also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani welcomed Trump’s decision, saying it would help open his country to the international community. “By lifting this big stumbling block to the economic recovery, doors are open for the long-awaited reconstruction and development, and rehabilitation of vital infrastructure,” he said in a social media post.Trump met Syria’s new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia in May after announcing he would lift US sanctions. It was the first meeting between the two countries’ leaders in 25 years. A week later, the US issued a 180-day waiver to sanctions imposed by Congress, removing penalties for people doing business with the Syrian government, with the longer-term goal of eliminating the restrictions entirely.Sharaa, whose rebel group overthrew Assad’s regime in a December uprising, is presenting his administration as a fresh start for Syria after more than a decade of war.Trump’s executive order will “give a blanket opportunity around all the things that we need to turn back on this economy,” said Tom Barrack, who was appointed US special envoy to Syria after Trump announced the lifting of sanctions. While the president can ease some sanctions that were issued by executive order, undoing all of them would require Congress to repeal the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which penalizes almost anyone who tries to do business with Syria.Syria has been under US sanctions since its 1979 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Further sanctions were imposed in 2004 and in 2011, when civil war broke out and Assad unleashed a brutal crackdown on his opponents.Middle East War Reset Dollar’s Inverse Link To Stocks, Goldman Sachs Says. Read more on World by NDTV Profit.