"Cuba was never a terrorist country, but a victim of terrorism, and should never have been on that list. That was an injustice," Gabriel Alonso, a retired Cuban, said Friday about the news of US formally dropping Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The retiree's sentiment was echoed by many Cubans and reflected the Cuban government's official stance on the matter.

Earlier in the day, Cuban national television announced the country's official removal from the list, which includes Iran, Syria and Sudan, with the commentator pointedly saying Cuba should "never have been" on the list issued annually by the US State Department.

The reasons given by Washington for including Cuba into the list were "unsustainable," he said, noting that Cuba's insistence on being de-listed "was a moral request."

Cuba was puy on the blacklist in 1982, banned from US foreign assistance, defense products and services exports and sales as well as dual-use items, and imposed on various financial and other sanctions.

According to the US State Department, Cuba's being put on the list was partly due to its support for members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel group.

Havana now serves as a key player to facilitate peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has expressed gratitude to Cuba on various occasions.

Since last December, Cuba and the US have been negotiating the resumption of their diplomatic ties and the eventual normalization of relations, while being taken off the list has been one of Cuba's top priorities in the rapprochement process.

Cuba's foreign ministry has welcomed the decision, which went into effect Friday, as "just," the Havana-based news agency Prensa Latina reported Friday.

Terrorism against Cuba has claimed 3,478 lives and left another 2,099 people injured, the ministry said Friday, reaffirming its rejection and condemnation of terrorism in all forms as well as all actions to support, finance or cover up terrorists.

US President Barack Obama notified Congress of his decision to take Cuba off the list on April 14 and the 45-day review period for Congress to challenge Obama's decision expired on Friday.

"The Secretary of State has made the final decision to rescind Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, effective today, May 29, 2015," said US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke on Friday in Washington, clearing a major obstacle to re-establishing diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana.

Though the de-listing was a positive step in the ongoing talks, said a Cuban TV commentator, Cubans should not anticipate sudden major breakthroughs in the normalization of ties, as other factors remained to be resolved, including the US trade embargo against Cuba.

As two of Cuba's main concerns have been addressed: removing Cuba from Washington's list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism, and facilitating banking services for Cuban diplomats in the United States, the next hurdle would be getting the United States to abide by Vienna Convention rules on "the conduct of diplomats" and "the functioning of a diplomatic mission," as the two nations are seeking to re-open embassies in their respective capitals, said Josefina Vidal, the Cuban foreign ministry's general director for US affairs.

Cuba has drawn up a list of priority issues to be discussed, such as starting with lifting the US trade embargo against Cuba, removing the illegal Guantanamo Naval Base, ending illegal broadcasts by US-run propaganda machines Radio and Television Marti, and the "compensation for our country and our people for the damages caused by US policies over 50 years," Vidal said.

The persistence of "a certain amount of aggressive, anti-Cuba rhetoric" was also a stumbling block to normalizing the ties, said Vidal.

While Obama has recently said Washington's foreign policy was not aimed at a regime change in Cuba, the US government actions have indicated the opposite, Vidal note.

"Real life tells us that they are still requesting multi-million-dollar funding to sustain these types of programs which Cuba considers illegal," she said.