The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Syria's foreign minister and two other top officials Tuesday, adding new pressure on the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Asset freezes and bans on business interactions were imposed on Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, top presidential advisor Buthaina Shaaban, and Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali, the Treasury said.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Tuesday slammed what he called “the rabid campaign being waged by the March 14 camp against Lebanon’s stance in the Arab foreign ministers meeting,” saying it reflects “spiteful and sick mentalities.”

In an interview with Hizbullah’s Al-Nour radio network, Mansour stressed that “Lebanon did not voice a stance in the Arab ministerial meeting … there was rather consensus among all members, and confirmations from the head of the current session and the Arab League’s secretary-general that no statement would be issued.”

President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday held a long phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on the latest developments in the Lebanese and Syrian arenas, Voice of Lebanon Radio (100.3-100.5) reported.

The two leaders also discussed the repercussions of the recent Arab and international stances on the situations in Syria and Lebanon, VOL said.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime on Tuesday to stop its violent crackdown on protesters and release those arrested.

Ashton "expresses her continued deep concern about the violence perpetrated by the Syrian regime against peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists, and the Syrian people at large," her spokesman said in a statement.

Syrian security forces opened fire Tuesday, killing seven people as they tried to disperse thousands of protesters rallying against the regime on the first day of the three-day Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, activists said.

The activists said security forces fired at protesters in the southern province of Daraa, in the central city of Homs and in the Damascus suburbs following morning prayers marking Eid al-Fitr.

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested two suspects in the kidnapping of two Syrian nationals in the Bekaa valley area of Bar Elias last Friday, official security sources said.

Three gunmen kidnapped Mohammad Ayman Ammar, 49 and Nour Jamil Qadoura, 30, after they intercepted their Jaguar upon entering Lebanon from Syria.

Dozens of Syrian refugees, including one suffering gunshot wounds, poured into northern Lebanon on Monday, as shooting was heard and smoke billowed across the border.

"Some 12 families have crossed into Lebanon from the border town of Hitt," said Mohammed al-Khatib, a van driver who had been transferring the refugees from the crossing into the northern Lebanese areas of Akroum and Wadi Khaled.

A senior Russian envoy said after talks in Damascus on Monday that there was no change in Russian policy on Syria which has been opposed to Western calls for sanctions, Syrian state media said.

"Russia's position on Syria is unchanged," the official SANA news agency quoted deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying.

Iran rejected Monday as "baseless" new EU sanctions targeting the al-Quds wing of the elite Revolutionary Guards which the European Union accuses of aiding the Syrian crackdown on protesters.

"We deny having any role in the internal affairs of that country (Syria)," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said according to a statement received by Agence France Presse.

Lebanese security forces have found some clues on who stands behind the kidnapping of two Syrian nationals last week although high-ranking security sources have ruled out any political motive behind their abduction.

Three gunmen kidnapped Mohammad Ayman Ammar, 49 and Nour Jamil Qadoura, 30, in the Bekaa valley town of Bar Elias on Friday after they intercepted their Jaguar upon entering Lebanon from Syria.