The Syrian regime on Thursday condemned the imposition of fresh US sanctions on its president as being "part of a regional scheme, aimed primarily at serving Israel's interests", state media reports. The Syrian government said that the sanctions "have not and will not" affect any of its decisions, nor would it affect Syria's stand on regional and international politics, the SANA news agency reported on Thursday.
The United States imposed sanctions a day earlier on Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and six senior officials.
Syria has termed the move an attempt to "prolong the crisis in Syria" on the part of the United States. "The US measures are part of a series of sanctions imposed by successive US administrations against the Syrian people as part of a regional scheme, aimed primarily at serving Israel's interests," SANA said.
