The European Union is considering introducing additional sanctions on Iran, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, as rights groups say thousands have been arrested and hundreds injured in a crackdown by Iranian security forces.

EU foreign ministers will discuss further sanctions on Iran at their next meeting, Borrell told reporters in Prague.

Iranian state television aired a video on in which two French citizens detained for "spying" in Iran in May appeared to confess to acting on behalf of a French security service, amid weeks of unrest that Tehran has linked to foreign foes.

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France's Foreign Ministry accused Iran of the practices of the "worst dictatorial regimes" over the video confessions and categorically denied that the two were members of the French intelligence services. 

In May, Iran's intelligence ministry said it had arrested two Europeans for allegedly fomenting "insecurity" in Iran. France has condemned and demanded immediate release of its citizens Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris.

"I am Cecile Kohler, I am an intelligence and operations agent at the DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) ... We were in Iran to prepare the ground for the revolution and the overthrow of the regime of Islamic Iran," Kohler said in the video, while wearing a headscarf.

Staged confessions

State TV said the two French citizens had entered Iran with "chunks of money ... which was meant to fund strikes and demonstrations."

"Our goal at the French security service is to pressure the government of Iran," said Paris in the video.

In May, state TV aired a video of the couple saying they traveled to Iran as tourists "but they took part in anti-government protests and met members of the so-called Teachers' Association", referring to protests by Iranian teachers across the country demanding better wages and working conditions.

"The staging of their alleged confessions is outrageous, appalling, unacceptable and contrary to international law. This masquerade reveals the contempt for human dignity that characterizes the Iranian authorities," France's Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said in a statement, demanding their immediate release.

"These alleged confessions, extracted under duress, have no basis, nor did the reasons given for their arbitrary arrest," she said describing them as "state hostages".

The "confession" coincides with weeks of anti-government protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month.

The nationwide protests have received wide international support, prompting Tehran to lash out at its critics by accusing the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to try to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

France's foreign minister said the European Union was looking to impose asset freezes and travel bans on a number of Iranian officials involved in the crackdown on protesters.