Australia announces new Syria sanctions AUSTRALIA today announced fresh sanctions against Syria restricting or prohibiting trade in oil and financial services to ramp up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime to end bloodshed. The new measures also affect trade between Australia and Syria in petroleum, telecommunications and precious metals. They are in addition to an existing arms embargo and sanctions against individuals connected to the regime in Damascus. "The Assad regime continues to show its unwillingness to negotiate a ceasefire and bring an end to Syria's bloodshed," Foreign Minister Bob Carr said. These sanctions reflect Australia's condemnation of the Assad regime, and our continued efforts to help bring Syria to the negotiating table. The European Union is also expected to slap fresh sanctions on Assad's regime at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg today. More than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the outbreak of the revolt against Mr Assad's rule in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.