President Obama has ordered sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad overnight in an effort to stem the bloodbath against pro-democratic protesters.

The sanctions extend to his top six government officials and will freeze any assets held in US financial institutions and prohibit any American from conducting business with them. A statement released by the Department of Treasury said: “As a result of this action, any property in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons in which the individuals listed … have an interest is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.”

For the past two months thousands of Syrian activists involved in the uprising demanding democracy have been met with brutal force. The United Nations estimates that the death toll has reached as high as 850 — a figure considered conservative because foreign journalists have been barred from entering Syria and have been unable to verify the numbers. Assad has admitted his security forces have made mistakes and that poorly trained police were to blame.

It represents a tougher approach to the ongoing violence due to the frustration at the lack of success from previous stances. As Steven Lee Myers and Anthony Shadid report in The New York Times: “Until now, Mr. Obama had adopted a much more measured and cautious approach than he did in Libya in hopes, officials said, that Mr. Assad would respond to international pressure. The administration clearly concluded that approach was not working.”

It is also viewed as a strategic move by Obama and comes a day before his much-anticipated keynote speech, expected to address a range of ongoing issues in the Middle East. Michael Crowley from The Times writes: “It’s possible, then, that Obama was more interested in influencing public opinion in the Arab world — and to defuse a tough anti-Assad resolution introduced by a group of Senate conservatives last week.”

But this move against Assad could backfire and harden his resolve to quash the anti-government protesters. As Daniel Stone from The Daily Beast wrote:  “…there’s a quieter consideration that sanctions might not be the most effective strategy … a tighter economic chokehold could have an effect similar to what happened with Libya. That is to say, effectively irk the leader, who’s insulated from his country’s economy, and who would in turn exact revenge with bigger crackdowns on protesters.”

Suspicions regarding a link between Iran and Syria were confirmed when missing Al Jazeera journalist, Dorothy Parvez, was released by Iranian authorities. Both countries are under intense international pressure over human rights violations and nuclear investments.

Parvez disappeared after arriving in Qatar to cover the anti-government protests. It has now been revealed she was arrested by Syrian authorities after attempting to enter the country. She wrote a piece about her 19-day detention on Al Jazeera:

“A man came to the door a couple of times before he took me from the cell, handcuffed and blindfolded me, and led me to what seemed like a courtyard. He pushed me up against a wall and told me to stand there… The Syrian authorities had alleged to the Iranians that I was a spy — a charge that can carry a death penalty in Iran.”