UK authorities have moved to strike a London-based Houthi TV station from the official register of companies.
Companies House has issued a compulsory strike-off notice to Al Masirah TV. An investigation by The National earlier this year revealed it had been registered as a business in Britain for more than 10 years despite not broadcasting any content.
The UK government agreed to look at the presence of the station after MP Bob Blackman raised concerns in the House of Commons that it could breach antiterrorism funding regulations or be used by the Houthis as cover to obtain visas for the UK.
The station uses a front company with a mailing address at a cafe to maintain a toehold in London. One of the company's directors is listed as director general of the parent station which broadcasts in Yemen.
Companies House told The National it did not comment on individual cases, so it remains unclear why the notice has been issued. However, it said compulsory strike-off notices were usually initiated when a company went into default for not filing accounts or a confirmation statement that its public records were up to date.
Records show that during the past decade that the company has existed in the UK, it has regularly filed accounts.
Companies House records show accounts due by June 30 and a confirmation statement by May 27 are now overdue.
Al Masirah TV would be contacted and asked whether it was still in business or operation before being officially struck off. It would then have two months to take action to prevent it being dissolved, and if that happened it would legally cease to exist as a trading entity.
The Beirut-based channel is the mouthpiece of the Houthi rebels, also known as Ansar Allah, who have controlled large parts of northern Yemen since 2015 and exert control over territory that is home to about 25 million people.
The presence of Al Masirah TV in the UK has raised concerns over alleged illicit funding, visa facilitation and intelligence gathering on political rivals.
Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, previously told The National it could enable access for Houthi rebels who need visas to come to the UK.
“Using this facility as that cover makes it a lot easier in an immigration interview to be able to get a visa, because you have a plausible explanation, you have an overt reason for being in the country,” he said.
Mr Hackett, who has also held positions at the US Defence Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said that this could be for two reasons.
“One is to speak to contacts they already have that are difficult to access. Otherwise, two, to gain new contacts. And I don't mean media contacts. I mean intelligence contacts for the [Houthi] movement, for Hezbollah and for Iran.”
Other experts have said a TV station could be used by Houthi rebels to have a financial presence in the UK without arousing suspicion.
The West London address for Al Masirah TV given on Companies House, where it is now listed as Almassira TV Channel Ltd, is in a parade of shops in Hangar Lane.
The premises are occupied by a coffee shop. A dingy alleyway to the side leads to a rear area used for fly-tipping.
The company's current directors are stated to be Ammar Al Hamzy, the director general of the channel, and Yousef Ahmed Al Moyed. Mr Al Hamzy is listed as the owner.
Both of their nationalities are given as Yemeni, but Mr Al Moyed lives in Lebanon. A former director is listed as Ebrahim Al Dulaimi, who is the Houthi envoy to Iran and sits on the political council for Ansar Allah.
Al Masirah TV has been contacted for a response.
