Iran has condemned a decision by Britain to impose sanctions on its morality police after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the unit sparked protests across the Islamic republic.

The deadly protests flared on September 16, days after the 22-year-old was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

In a statement  Britain said it was slapping sanctions on the “morality police in its entirety”, as well as Iran’s police commander and the head of the Basij militia linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In response, Iran said it had summoned the British ambassador to Tehran later the same day and described as “baseless” the newly imposed sanctions.

It informed the envoy of Tehran’s “strong protest to London for interfering in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, the statement said.

Iran says dozens of people have been killed in the protests triggered by Amini’s death, including 18 security personnel, and hundreds have been arrested at what it calls “riots”