Report Links Chiswick-Based TV Channel and Khashoggi Murder
Guardian claims Saudi crown prince is funding Iran International TV
A report in the Guardian newspaper has claimed that a Chiswick based TV channel is being funded by a Saudi crown price who they say is widely believed to be connected with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The dissident reporter was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.
Quoting an inside source the newspaper say that Iran International TV which is based in Chiswick Business Park has been set up through companies with ties to Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They say that the channel which is editorially opposed to the Tehran regime is funded through an offshore entity and a company whose director is a Saudi Arabian businessman with close links to the Saudi crown prince.
The channel has not denied that it receives funding from Saudi sources. Saudi Arabia is engaged in a fierce regional rivalry with Iran. Iranian owned Press TV often runs negative stories about the Saudi government.
Iran International launched in May 2017 and describes itself as a privately-owned UK entity with a longer term ambition to broadcast to other communities and other languages. It provides a mix of rolling news, current affairs and documentaries, sport, lifestyle, health and technology, aimed at an Iranian audience.
The Guardian says that when it launched last year the 100 or so new recruits to the firm were offered generous salary packages some of which were twice what they had previously been paid.
Offshore satellite channels are popular in Iran due to the restrictions on the state broadcaster. Illegal rooftop dishes are used to view these channels which also include the BBC’s Persian service and Manoto TV, which has broadcast Iranian versions of The X Factor and Come Dine With Me.
The Guardian’s source has claimed that Saud al-Qahtani, who they describe as the crown prince’s information tsar, was among two senior officials removed in connection with the Khashoggi affair, and was involved in the funding behind Iran International TV.
They quote the source as saying, “You could have a larger picture about how those kids [Saudi media moguls] with that money being thrown around [by Prince Mohammed] trying to change the world by buying media … It is money coming from the royal court.”
Volant Media, the company that runs Iran International, took space in building 11 in Chiswick Business Park in 2016. At the time of their taking on the lease there was some mystery about the nature of the business which was described as ‘an emerging media business.
The company has a director named Adel Abdulkarim, a Saudi national, who the Guardian say has worked closely with well-connected Saudi executives, some of who have links to the royal court, including Abdulrahman al-Rashed, who sits on the board of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), the largest publishing company in the Middle East. The newspapers say multiple sources claim Rashed, who is the former general manager of the Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya, was also involved in the operations and funding behind Iran International.
The station carries no advertising and the report claims that £197million was given to set up and operate the business. Volant Media lost £26m in 2017, according to accounts filed earlier this month.
Iran International told the Guardian any suggestions that the network was involved in wrongdoing or was not editorially independent were incorrect. Rob Beynon, the acting head of the television station told the paper, “[Iran International] provides news for all Iranians, in Iran and in the diaspora, reflective of the widest range of opinions. Our output is governed not by any external individuals but by our editorial guidelines, which are published in English and Farsi on our website.
“It is transparent and impartial, as you can see from our output. The management structure is as you would expect in any news organisation. Decisions are taken by our senior editorial managers, who report to me.”
November 2, 2018