TEHRAN – Iran on Tuesday summoned the British ambassador to Tehran after the UK government said it had sanctioned several Iranians, accusing them of targeting anti-Iran figures on British soil. 

Simon Shercliff was called to the Iranian foreign ministry, where the director general of Western Europe described the sanctions as “illegal” and condemned London’s accusations as “baseless.”

The UK announced on Monday that it was sanctioning 7 individuals and 1 organization in Iran whom it accused of collaborating with the Iranian government to target “journalists” and “human rights defenders”. 

Iran has rejected targeting any individuals on European soil. However, the group of media personalities London labels as “journalists” and “human rights defenders” have been exposed for openly preaching the use of deadly violence to topple the Iranian government in the past years. 

The Guardian quoted two media personalities as saying that they were afraid for their lives, and have had to change locations to avoid being spotted by Iranian agents. The two figures are anchors of a TV channel Iran has designated as a terrorist organization. The outlet invites terrorist and separatist groups to its shows, and has at several points encouraged Iranian civilians to take up armed fights against security forces inside cities.