A recent Financial Times investigation published Thursday has uncovered fresh financial evidence linking Iran International, the London-based Persian-language opposition news outlet, to Saudi Arabian state-backed media interests, challenging years of public denials from the outlet of any official foreign government ties. The revelations emerge against the already volatile backdrop of the February 2025 U.S. military attack on Iran, bringing new scrutiny to the network’s financial backing and editorial role in regional tensions.
The findings center on a $870 million debt-for-equity restructuring transaction completed by Volant Media UK, Iran International’s parent company, in December 2024, a move designed to stabilize the outlet’s finances after years of heavy operating losses. Internal corporate documents reviewed by the FT show that Volant Media has racked up more than $550 million in cumulative losses over the past five years, with outstanding debts totaling roughly $645 million to connected entities as of the end of the 2024 financial year.
Founded in 2017 by individuals billed as British-Saudi private investors, Iran International has grown into a large-scale operation with 700 employees, broadcasting into Iran via satellite, radio, and multiple social media platforms. The outlet describes itself as the most popular Persian-language news channel based outside of Iran, but it has long faced accusations from critics that it covertly promotes foreign-backed regime change in Iran and advocates for the return of the Iranian monarchy under Reza Pahlavi, the former shah’s son. For years, the outlet has repeatedly denied any formal or informal ties to either the Saudi or Israeli governments.
The December 2024 debt restructuring included a major corporate shakeup: Volant Media issued 648 million new shares valued at $870 million to settle outstanding debts, and all 50,000 original founding shares held by Adel Abdulkarim Alabdulkarim — a British-Saudi film executive who serves as Volant’s director and company secretary — were transferred to Info-Cast Cayman Limited, an offshore holding company registered in the Cayman Islands. The FT confirms Alabdulkarim retains significant control over Volant, with the power to appoint or remove a majority of the outlet’s board of directors, though Info-Cast Cayman is formally listed as Volant’s immediate parent company as of the end of 2024.
Corporate records from the Cayman Islands show Saleh Hussain Aldowais is the sole director of Info-Cast Cayman. A public figure matching that name holds the position of chief operations officer at Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), a major state-backed Saudi media corporation publicly traded on the Riyadh stock exchange. SRMG operates more than 30 global media outlets, including prominent publications such as Asharq Al-Awsat, Arab News, and Asharq News, the latter of which maintains a content partnership with Bloomberg News.
In a statement to the FT, an Iran International spokesperson pushed back on the implications of the corporate restructuring, saying the debt-for-equity swap did not involve any new capital injection into the outlet. The spokesperson repeated the outlet’s longstanding claim that “it has never received funding from any government or state entity – including Saudi Arabia or Israel – whether directly or indirectly.” The spokesperson added that any external professional roles held by individuals connected to the outlet are held in a personal capacity, are entirely separate from Iran International’s operations, and do not impact the network’s editorial, operational, or financial independence.
The FT’s revelations come amid heightened scrutiny of Iran International’s reporting in the lead-up to the U.S. war on Iran, which began on February 28, 2025. The outlet provided extensive coverage of nationwide anti-government protests that erupted in Iran earlier that year, triggered by a severe cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by long-standing U.S. economic sanctions. In January 2025, Iran International published a claim that more than 36,500 people had been killed in the Iranian government’s crackdown on the demonstrations — a death toll far higher than independent estimates published by Western governments and international human rights organizations. Days before launching military action against Iran, then-U.S. President Donald Trump publicly cited a casualty number nearly identical to that published by Iran International, though he never disclosed the source of his figure. A separate April 2025 New York Times report later confirmed that Israeli officials had lobbied the Trump administration to intervene militarily in Iran, pointing to the ongoing protests as justification. Israeli officials told U.S. leaders that the country’s intelligence service, Mossad, could help foment additional unrest to bring about the collapse of the Islamic Republic government.