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"This is just one more example of the Iranian leadership's lack of basic respect for human rights," he added.
"We urge the Iranian authorities to end their harassment of Ms Ebadi and to respect the human rights of all of their citizens who are working to make their voices heard," the spokesman said.
Ebadi in London has accused Iran of freezing her bank accounts and confiscating her 2003 Nobel Peace Prize medal.
She won the award for her campaign for democracy and human rights in Iran and has been an outspoken critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election in June sparked mass opposition protests.
The Iranian authorities have denied seizing the Nobel medal from a bank deposit box in Tehran, although the foreign ministry implicitly confirmed that Ebadi's assets had been frozen because she had failed to pay tax on them.
Iran is demanding about 400,000 dollars (270,000 euros) in back taxes on the Nobel prize money of about 1.3 million dollars.
Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, accused Iranian authorities of lying and claimed that, under Iranian law, the Nobel prize money is not liable for tax.
It is the first time in Nobel history that a medal has been confiscated.
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Image: AFP/File/Filippo Monteforte.
"We urge the Iranian authorities to end their harassment of Ms Ebadi and to respect the human rights of all of their citizens who are working to make their voices heard," the spokesman said.
Ebadi in London has accused Iran of freezing her bank accounts and confiscating her 2003 Nobel Peace Prize medal.
She won the award for her campaign for democracy and human rights in Iran and has been an outspoken critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election in June sparked mass opposition protests.
The Iranian authorities have denied seizing the Nobel medal from a bank deposit box in Tehran, although the foreign ministry implicitly confirmed that Ebadi's assets had been frozen because she had failed to pay tax on them.
Iran is demanding about 400,000 dollars (270,000 euros) in back taxes on the Nobel prize money of about 1.3 million dollars.
Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, accused Iranian authorities of lying and claimed that, under Iranian law, the Nobel prize money is not liable for tax.
It is the first time in Nobel history that a medal has been confiscated.
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Image: AFP/File/Filippo Monteforte.
