U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Turkey to impose new sanctions against Iran, while praising Ankara for its role in pressuring Syria to stop its bloody crackdown on protesters, AP reports.

Turkey announced a set of economic sanctions against Syria earlier this week, as Assad continues with his attempts to crush an 8-month-old revolt against his autocratic rule.

Biden told the Turkish daily Hurriyet: "We look forward to the broadening of international sanctions as a means to bring about change in Syria."

Biden also urged Ankara to adopt further sanctions against Iran, which the West suspects is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

On Friday, December 2, Biden met President Abdullah Gul and Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek but was not expected to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is recovering from a surgery. Biden also said that the United States "will continue to work with Turkey on pursuing shared interests in the Middle East and North Africa."

"We continue to support a diplomatic solution to our concerns with Iran," Biden said. "However, we also believe that putting pressure on Iran's leadership is necessary to secure a negotiated settlement and that is why we encourage our partners, including Turkey, to take steps to impose new sanctions on Iran."