A cluster of companies owned and controlled by a UK citizen has established ties to the media arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, The National can reveal.
Yasser Al Sayegh's businesses can be linked to the Islamic Radios and Televisions Union (IRTVU), which is sanctioned by the US government over allegations it is controlled by the IRGC.
The network of companies is concentrated in the Wembley area of north-west London.
Mr Al Sayegh maintains he has not broken any UK laws and says his businesses offer professional co-operation with a wide range of media outlets, enterprises, companies and event organisers.
The businesses are service providers with a policy to operate in full compliance with applicable UK laws and industry standards, he said.
Mr Al Sayegh was born in Bahrain and arrived in the UK on a student visa in 1982. He was stripped of his citizenship by the Bahraini government in 2015 and is now a British citizen.
Outside the UK, and particularly in the Middle East, the IRTVU supports and in many cases created the bulk of the television channels and other media outlets run by Iran’s proxies, including Hezbollah, Kataib Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas – a grouping known as the Axis of Resistance.
The IRTVU is registered as a company in Switzerland and public records show Mr Al Sayegh as sitting on its committee. Mr Al Sayegh told The National he has formally withdrawn his membership of the organisation. He described his affiliation as being for a “limited period” and said he “no longer maintains any affiliation with IRTVU in any capacity”.
Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer who has held positions at the US Defence Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, told The National the IRTVU is closely linked to the IRGC.
“Each kind of ruling entity within Iran has their own sort of media affiliate,” he said. “The IRTVU is the IRGC media entity and it's not just an outlet for their messaging. It's actually owned by them as a company.
“So whenever these are operating inside the UK they're operating as an Iran government entity, not as a private media organisation.”
Mr Hackett said “the UK has identified Press TV as one of these state-owned companies” and revoked its licence to broadcast from Britain.
Hezbollah training
One of Mr Al Sayegh’s companies, Infomedia Plus, signed an agreement with the Union Centre for Media Training, a Beirut-based, Hezbollah-linked organisation that is part of the IRTVU, documents show.
Mr Al Sayegh founded Infomedia Plus in 2013 and since then it has been registered for correspondence at an address just a few minutes’ walk from Wembley Stadium.
The address was also once home to Al Masirah TV, the television channel owned by the Houthi rebel group.
Infomedia Plus describes itself as a “video production company specialising in cinematography, directing and post-production” that delivers “high-end visual content across the UK, Europe, the USA, and the Middle East, working with global brands, businesses and creative agencies”.
It signed a memorandum of understanding with the Union Centre for Media Training in 2021 “to strengthen link [sic] and sharing experiences in the fields of media and journalism training”.
“The memorandum aims to aid co-operation between the two sides in providing courses and workshops using [a] variety of virtual training platforms.”
The UCMT is listed on the IRTVU’s website as being an affiliated organisation.
According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hezbollah oversees the work of the IRTVU affiliates in Lebanon.
“These are based in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh. Other entities directly created by IRTVU are likewise based in Dahieh and run by Hezbollah, including the Union Centre for Media Training,” the Washington Institute alleged.
Mr Al Sayegh rejected “commentary” on the nature of these companies. “I have worked in media, communications, and organisational roles over many years, all openly and lawfully,” he said. “Any professional associations, memberships, or company positions I have held were lawful and properly declared where required.”
On its website, Infomedia Plus boasted of producing a video for Leeds City Council, though the video has subsequently been removed from the company's website.
Other productions it has worked on include an interview for Al Arabiya with Scotland’s former first minister Humza Yousaf. The company has also worked with Al Jazeera.
Mr Al Sayegh said that throughout its operations, Infomedia Plus has maintained professional co-operation with a wide range of media outlets, enterprises, companies and event organisers.
“Our service policy is to operate in full compliance with applicable UK laws and industry standards, ensuring professionalism, transparency, and strict adherence to contractual obligations in all commissioned work,” he said.
Iraqi links
Mr Al Sayegh is also director and owner of a company called Iraq Radios and Televisions Union.
On its LinkedIn page, it says it is a London-based, non-profit organisation founded in 2021 that represents broadcast networks, press, media companies and institutions from Iraq. Its other director is an Iraqi, and three previous directors have also been Iraqi.
The UK-registered company shares exactly the same name with an Iraq-based organisation that is part of the IRTVU.
According to the Washington Institute, the Iraq-based organisation is headed by Hamid Al Husseini, a leading figure in the pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah militia, which is sanctioned by the US as a terrorist organisation.
Mr Al Husseini allegedly holds the rank of colonel in the IRGC, a connection that began forming after he fled Iraq during the Saddam Hussein era, said the Washington Institute. The Iraq-based IRTU is a “subordinate branch of IRTVU”, alleged the think tank.
When the US government placed the IRTVU under sanctions in 2021, it seized 33 websites it operated, and three websites operated by Kataib Hezbollah.
Wembley base
The UK IRTU is located in an office a short drive away from Infomedia Plus's registered address in Wembley.
The office is at the bottom of an apartment block in a facility that provides workspaces for small businesses. There was little sign of life in any of the units when The National visited.
Mr Al Sayegh did not respond to The National regarding the Iraq Radios and Televisions Union.
Axis of media
A short walk away is another address with Iranian and loyal media ties.
The Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union is owned by Mr Al Sayegh and he remains a director. It has a mailing address in a row of shops, which it shares with Al Masirah TV, the mouthpiece of the Houthi movement in Yemen.
Until January a director of the company was Nasser Akhdar, the former director of Hezbollah’s al Manar propaganda television network and the current secretary general of the IRTVU.
Mr Akhdar is described on official records as a Canadian national who lives in Lebanon. His previous boss at the IRTVU was Ali Karimian, a cleric with close ties to the Iranian supreme leader’s office, where IRGC-Quds Force strategies are devised and overseen, alleges the Washington Institute.
Mr Akhdar was the head of media committee for the funeral procession of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah who was killed in Israeli air strike, according to Al Manar TV, which is aligned to the Lebanese group.
Previous directors of the Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union include Mahboob Nader Golzadeh, who is listed as being the treasurer of IRTVU committee on the register of Swiss companies.
The Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union shares the address with a television station owned by the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
Earlier this year The National reported that Al Masirah TV has been registered as a company in London for more than 10 years. Questions about its presence in the UK have been raised in Parliament by MP Bob Blackman.
The Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union applied for voluntary strike-off from the register at Companies House in April at its registered current address, near Marble Arch, in central London. Mr Al Sayegh continues to use the Wembley address for correspondence.
Mr Al Sayegh also owned a previous version of the Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union which ran from 2013–2018 and operated out of the same address as Infomedia Plus.
One of its directors was listed as Basel Aldashti, a Kuwaiti who formerly ran Al Kout TV in the country.
The private satellite television channel was closed when the Kuwaiti authorities accused Mr Aldashti of being involved in a terror group linked with Iran and Hezbollah.
In 2017 he was sentenced in absentia to five years on charges of “contributing to bringing weapons and receiving illegal training”.
Mr Al Sayegh did not respond to The National regarding the Arabic Islamic Broadcasting Union, Mr Akhdar or Mr Aldashti.
He said: “For clarity – I have never acted unlawfully in the United Kingdom. I have never been a member of any proscribed organisation. Any previous memberships or affiliations referenced were lawful and public.
“I categorically reject any suggestion that I serve as a proxy, covert representative, or 'UK-compliant face' for any foreign organisation or state actor.”
