Rubio pledges to consider reviewing terrorist designations in call with Syrian foreign minister

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to consider further action to review domestic and United Nations terrorist designations related to Syria in a call with that country's foreign minister on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Rubio also discussed with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani previous U.S. moves to remove sanctions on Syria, and pledged to maintain sanctions on "malign actors," including Bashar al-Assad and his associates, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in the statement.