The United States imposed sanctions Tuesday on Syria’s Foreign Minister and two other senior officials

The United States imposed sanctions Tuesday on Syria’s Foreign Minister and two other senior officials.

US has frozen the US assets and banned business transactions with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and two other senior Syrian officials. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem was targeted for being a leading defender of the violent campaign.

The other two officials targeted by the latest sanctions were Syria's ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali and President Bashar al-Assad's adviser Bouthaina Shaaban.

"We are bringing additional pressure to bear today directly on three senior Assad regime officials who are principle defenders of the regime's activities," David Cohen, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement on Tuesday.