German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for new sanctions on Iran following a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the morality police.
"We will now have to talk very quickly in EU circles about further consequences, and for me this also includes sanctions against those responsible," the minister told dpa on Monday.
"The attempt to suppress peaceful protests with even more deadly violence must not go unanswered," she added. "Women's rights are the yardstick for the state of a society ... if women are not safe in a country, no one is safe."
She said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
Earlier Monday, Iran rejected criticism from the European Union for its response to the street protests.
"This is intervention in the internal affairs of Iran and support for the rioters," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
The case of the detained woman, Mahsa Amini, was under investigation, but the EU and other Western countries were ignoring this fact and offering support to "troublemakers" who were jeopardizing Iran's security, he said.
Protesters have taken to the streets in cities across the country over the past nine days following Amini's death. The authorities have imposed a wide-ranging internet blackout to prevent the protesters from communicating with each other.
She was detained by the country's morality police and declared dead under unexplained circumstances on September 16.
Special courts are to be set up to try the demonstrators, the head of Tehran justice department, Ali Alghasi Mehr, said on Monday, according to a report by the Tasnim news agency.
No leniency would be shown to the "leaders of the troublemakers hired from abroad," he said, adding they would be treated like rapists and serious criminals.
As the government has described all the demonstrators as mercenaries in the pay of foreign agents, observers believe lengthy sentences will be imposed.
Iranians prominent in film or sport will also face legal action if they express solidarity with the protests, legal officials said.
The number of those arrested over the past nine days remains unclear. More than 1,000 arrests have been reported from the north of the country, and there are fears that thousands more have been detained across the country.
On Sunday, the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, condemned the government's violent response to the demonstrations.
"The widespread and disproportionate use of force against nonviolent protesters is unjustifiable and unacceptable," Borrell said on behalf of the 27 EU member states. He added that the internet blackouts were "violating freedom of expression."
He called on Iran to clarify the number of people killed and injured, to release non-violent demonstrators and ensure a proper trial for those held. Amini's death should be properly investigated and those responsible made to answer, he said.
In Iran, the news portal Tejarat-News reported that the internet blackout was severely affecting the country's economy and the income of more than 10 million people.
Much of the country's commerce switched to the internet in response to the coronavirus pandemic, making use of social media channels like Instagram and WhatsApp to conduct business and leading to a boom in online sales.
