Iran has slammed “brazen" US Congress legislation on Hong Kong, saying Washington's interference in the domestic affairs of other countries has turned into a means to trigger more instability.

"International law categorically rejects meddling in other countries' internal affairs, and unfortunately the reoccurrence of such a behavior by the US regime has turned into a means to destabilize countries," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday.

"It is not the first time that the US regime and the country's Congress do such things, and the Islamic Republic of Iran regards these measures as a clear example of interference in the domestic affairs of countries and condemns them," he added.

The Iranian spokesperson emphasized that citizens of all countries are entitled to the civil right to protest in line with law and public order without any foreign interference.

The so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, which would support “democratic freedoms” in the Asian financial hub, moved through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on September 25, setting the stage for possible approval in both chambers of the US Congress in the coming weeks.

China has vowed to “hit back forcefully” at the United States, after the US Congress officially pushed forward the legislation, a move that Beijing considers interference in its affairs.

The bill is an attempt to “wantonly interfere in China’s domestic affairs” and shows the “malicious intention of some in the US Congress to contain China’s development,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a statement.

Unrest began in Hong Kong in June, when people started taking to the streets to protest a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited and stand trial abroad.

The Chinese government says foreign countries, mainly the United States and Britain, have been provoking the protesters by issuing statements of support. Beijing has asked the two countries to stop meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs.

Hong Kong has been governed under a “one-country, two-system” model since the city, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997.

Read more: