The Obama administration is hitting three top Syrian officials, Syria’s intelligence agency and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard with sanctions over their brutal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators.
The penalties to be announced Friday will freeze any assets that the officials, Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps may have in U.S. jurisdictions and also bar Americans from doing business with them. Two senior U.S. officials said President Barack Obama authorized the imposition of the sanctions for human rights abuses committed by Syrian authorities seeking to quell five weeks of protests. More than 450 people have been reported killed.
The officials said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has provided material support to help Syrian authorities with the crackdown. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement.