Reform UK Donor Linked to Sanctioned Iranian Foundation
Hossein Ghandehari, a billionaire donor to Reform UK, previously held a business partnership with a sanctioned Iranian religious foundation according to a French arbitration ruling.
A French arbitration decision revealed that Hossein Ghandehari, a billionaire donor to Reform UK and associate of Nigel Farage, previously held a 49% stake in Omran Razavi International Co. This joint venture, established in 2015, was created to build a fiber-optic cable in Iran in partnership with Astan Quds Razavi, a powerful religious foundation under the authority of Iran's supreme leader.
Astan Quds Razavi holds a 51% stake in the venture and was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 for its role in controlling the Iranian economy to benefit senior officials. The business partnership collapsed around 2016 after hardliners replaced the foundation's leadership and seized the project's assets.
Lawyers for Ghandehari claim the project was intended to promote political change by increasing information access and was authorized by French and U.S. authorities. They further assert that Ghandehari has not visited Iran in 30 years and was subsequently targeted by the Iranian government with false allegations of working for Western powers. These business links contrast with the public condemnation of the Iranian regime by Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK.
