US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Washington is “exploring” normalizing ties with Syria after he met with Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh.

“We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government…beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa,” Trump told Gulf leaders at the GCC-US summit.

He noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with his Syrian counterpart Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Turkey later this week.

Before the summit kicked off, Trump and al-Sharaa met behind closed doors in the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined via video call.

Trump said that after discussing the situation with MBS and Erdogan he decided to lift sanctions on Syria, an announcement he made on Tuesday during the Saudi-US Investment Forum.

He said that this move will give Syria “a fresh start.”

A statement issued by the Syrian foreign ministry on Wednesday said that Trump-al-Sharaa meeting discussed US-Syrian partnership in fighting terrorism and to eliminate non-Syrian groups that affect stability including ISIS.

According to a White House statement trump urged al-Sharaa to “sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel” and “assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in northeast Syria.”

During his speech at the summit the US President expressed interest making a deal with Iran, but said for that to happen Iran must stop supporting terror.

“[Iran] must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “They cannot have a nuclear weapon....I’m strongly urging all nations to join us in fully and totally enforcing the sanctions that I just placed on Iran.”

Trump also said that there was a chance of a future in Lebanon that was free from a Hezbollah grip.

As for Gaza, he said that his administration shares the “hope of so many in this region for future of safety and dignity of the Palestinian people.”