DAMASCUS, May 8 (Xinhua) — Hundreds of Syrians on Sunday staged a sit-in before the United States embassy in Damascus to protest the U.S. intervention in Syria’s internal affairs, state SANA news agency reported.

The protesters shouted slogans to refuse the “double standards policy” of the U.S. and said the U.S. intervention would only ” strengthen the unity of the Syrian people,” according to SANA.

The U.S. administration imposed sanctions on three top Syrian officials and Syria’s intelligence agency over what it said a crackdown on protests.

Syria is already under U.S. sanctions because it has been designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the U.S. state department, however, the new sanctions extend the penalties to individuals.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that “the U.S. is looking at boosting sanctions it has already imposed on Syrian leaders.”

Syria has been wracked by more than seven weeks of protests amid calls for sweeping reforms. The Syrian authorities blamed the violent incidents on “armed terrorist groups.”