"The confrontational and sanction policy will be met with Iran's proportional response," Amir Abdollahian told his Belgian counterpart Hadja Lahbib during a telephone conversation on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the European Union announced that it was imposing restrictive measures on additional eight individuals and one entity, including members of the Judiciary, a member of the Iranian parliament, clerics, and a senior official of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Also on Monday, Britain imposed sanctions on more senior officials of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), including those whom it claimed were responsible for managing the elite force's financial investments.

Both Brussels and London have alleged that they have resorted to the coercive measures over, what they called were, Tehran's treatment of foreign-backed unrest that followed the death of a young Iranian woman in police custody last year.

The Iranian minister condemned the EU and the UK's recent bans, stressing, "Some European parties accuse others of seeking recourse to violence, while themselves have a dark history of dual behavior concerning the issue of human rights and [tow a history of] systematic violation of these rights."

He cited the French police's treatment of recent protests against Paris' plans to raise the retirement age as a case in point.

The Belgian official, for her part, condemned any instance of dual approach, insisting on the need for resolution of standing differences between Tehran and Brussels through negotiation.

Protests erupted in several cities across Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini who fainted at a police station in mid-September and days later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The demonstrations soon turned violent.

An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization announced that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

Iranian officials blame Western countries for orchestrating the riots to destabilize the country.

The unrest has claimed the lives of dozens of people and security forces, while also allowing acts of terror and sabotage across the country. Iran's Interior Ministry has confirmed the enemy waged a hybrid war against the country to weaken national solidarity and hinder the country's progress, stressing that some 200 people lost their lives in the riots sparked by separatist and terrorist groups.

The US, the UK and the European Union (EU) have imposed a slew of sanctions against Iranian individuals and legal entities since the September death in police custody of an Iranian woman. Iran has returned the adversarial measures and meddlesome statements with sanctions against European, American and British officials and institutions.