The US has removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after nearly five decades, potentially reopening access to global finance. The move could help attract investment and reconnect banks to global systems. Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reports from Damascus.

BREAKING: Iran has told Yemen’s Houthis to close the Bab al-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US hits Iran’s power network, sources told Reuters. 🔴 More on

BREAKING: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says avenging his slain father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is “the demand of the nation” and “must certainly” take place. 🔴 More on

When our deep strikes were not reaching Moscow and St. Petersburg, Putin did not think much about it. He understood that the war was far from the Kremlin. Of course, once he feels what is happening in Moscow, he will begin to understand what is happening in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions. He’ll begin to grasp the reality of the situation. When not one hundred drones but a thousand start reaching Moscow, and when he feels it and sees it, he will be advised to move somewhere beyond the Urals. That will be a moment that opens a new chapter on the path toward ending the war. The farther Putin is from Moscow, the closer the end of the war and peace will be. He fears for his life. And then there are the elites. Where do the Russian elites live? Moscow and St. Petersburg – the two major cities. Those places will be reached, because that is where they make the decisions to kill us. That is why deep strikes have had, and continue to have, a major impact. We must keep working on this. It is constant, difficult, and daily work. We must all stay focused and energized. The heroes are those on the front line. And all of us, the entire state, must keep carrying shells to them. If we do, we will bring a just and strong peace for Ukraine. That is what victory means for us. From an interview with the Financial Times. (3/3)

We have completely eliminated the very idea of Russia having a strategic rear. For a long time, Russia believed it had a territorial advantage no one else possEssed – a deep rear where it could safely keep military production, military equipment, and everything its war depends on, believing no one could reach them. We have reached them. Just yesterday, Ukrainian drones broke-through Russia’s defenses and struck a Russian oil-refinery in Siberia. This is not an exception. It is the new reality. There is no major oil-refinery left in Russia that has not been struck by Ukraine. From a speech at the NATO Defense Industry Forum. (3/5)