A debt-for-equity deal worth $870 million conducted by the parent company of Iran International, a London-based Iranian opposition broadcaster, suggests financial ties to an individual connected to a Saudi Arabian state-backed media group, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, May 29. The deal, completed in December 2024, was previously undisclosed. Iran International has denied receiving funding from any government or state entity.
The debt relief was granted to Volant Media UK, the parent company of Iran International, according to documents reviewed by the Financial Times. On December 13, 2024, Volant issued 648 million new shares valued at approximately $870 million as part of a debt-for-equity swap. All of Volant’s original 50,000 shares were transferred the same day from Adel Abdulkarim Alabdulkarim, a British-Saudi film executive who serves as Volant’s company director and secretary, to an offshore entity called Info-Cast Cayman Limited.
Alabdulkarim retains “significant control” of Volant, the FT reported, citing his authority to appoint or remove the majority of the company’s board of directors. But Info-Cast Cayman was recorded as the immediate parent company at the end of the 2024 financial year.
According to Cayman corporate records reviewed by the FT, the sole director of Info-Cast Cayman is Saleh Hussain Aldowais. A person with that name holds the position of chief operations officer at the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), a publicly traded Saudi Arabian state-backed company that operates more than 30 media outlets, including Asharq Al-Awsat, Arab News and Asharq News — the last of which has a partnership with Bloomberg.
An Iran International spokesperson told the FT that no new funds were injected into the company as part of the transaction. “The network has never received funding from any government or state entity — including Saudi Arabia or Israel — whether directly or indirectly,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: “Where individuals associated with the business hold other external commercial roles, those interests are entirely separate… held in a personal capacity and have no bearing on the editorial, operational or financial independence of the network.”
A knowledgeable source told the Financial Times that the opacity around the network’s funding had generated concern inside the outlet itself. “The lack of transparency regarding the network’s true sources of funding has long been a source of concern and quiet dissatisfaction among some of its own journalists, who in private circles have raised questions about the forces shaping the network’s editorial decisions,” the source said.
Financial Losses and Scale
Volant Media UK has accumulated substantial losses over recent years. According to documents covering the financial year ending December 2024 and reviewed by the FT, the company lost more than $550 million over the five years preceding the debt restructuring and owed related entities approximately $645 million at year-end 2024. Iran International was founded in 2017 by British-Saudi investors and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since its launch, the FT reported.
The channel describes itself as the “most popular Persian-speaking foreign-based news channel in Iran.” It employs 700 people and broadcasts into Iran from London via satellite, radio and social media platforms.
Broader Context and Contested Coverage
The debt-relief disclosure arrives amid the ongoing US-led war on Iran, which began on February 28, 2026. Iran International covered the anti-government protests that swept Iran in January 2026, sparked in part by a cost-of-living crisis intensified by US sanctions. In January 2026, the outlet reported that more than 36,500 people were killed in a government crackdown on those protests — a figure significantly higher than estimates from the United States and Western-based human rights organisations, according to the New York Times.
US President Donald Trump cited casualty numbers consistent with those reported by Iran International in the days before launching military operations against Iran on February 28, according to CBS News, though he did not publicly disclose the source of the figures.
A separate New York Times report from April 2026 said that Israel lobbied Trump to intervene in Iran and that Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, had offered to assist in fomenting further protests to destabilise the Islamic Republic.
Iran International has long faced accusations from critics of promoting regime change in Iran and advancing the position of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah, as a potential future leader. The outlet has consistently denied editorial ties to either Israel or Saudi Arabia.
Background
Iran International launched in 2017 with backing from British-Saudi investors and has operated from London ever since. SRMG, the Saudi company at the centre of the FT’s findings, is a publicly traded entity with a portfolio of more than 30 media brands across the Arab world. The debt-for-equity structure used by Volant in December 2024 converted debt owed to related entities into new equity shares. The UK Companies House filings reviewed by the FT did not specify who received the 648 million newly allotted shares.
What Happens Next
Iran International has not announced any structural or editorial changes following the FT’s report. The network’s spokesperson told the FT that it stands by its editorial independence. No regulatory body in the United Kingdom has publicly announced a review of Volant Media’s ownership structure. The FT did not report any response from SRMG or from Saleh Hussain Aldowais.
