Iran International

Iran International is a Persian-language satellite television channel and multilingual digital news operation based in London, United Kingdom. Established in May 2017 and reportedly linked to Saudi Arabia, it is aimed at Iranians and people interested in Iranian news, culture, politics, society and sports.
News content is available online, via radio and via satellite broadcasting worldwide including inside Iran despite official attempts at censorship. The network reports on Iran's geopolitical role, economy, human rights violations, political developments, LGBTQ+ rights and other topics sensitive to the Government of Iran.

Overview

The channel has received media attention for its reporting on human rights violations, political developments, LGBTQ+ rights and women's rights in Iran and has twice been nominated for International Channel of the Year by the Association for International Broadcasting and won a 2023 Clio Entertainment Award as well as a 2023 Promax UK award.
The channel is backed by a Saudi-British investor with ties to the Saudi government, According to The Guardian, Saudi Arabia has provided a 250-million-dollar fund for Iran International in 2018, but Iran International's management claims the independence of its editorial operation and denies a link to any government.
In 2022, an independent survey carried out by the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran and reported by the AIB found that Iran International is the most influential source of independent news in Iran with 33% of the daily audience. More than half of the 27,000 participants surveyed also reported that they trusted Iran International "a lot" or "to some extent".
During the Mahsa Amini protests on 9 November 2022, the Iranian Minister of Intelligence Ismail Khatib announced that Iran International had been declared a terrorist organization by the Islamic Republic of Iran, accused of inciting riots protesting the government.
News sources have reported that the Iranian government is waging an "intimidation campaign" against personnel of the TV station, freezing their assets, interrogating their relatives and "threatening to snatch them from British streets if they do not quit their jobs". In February 2023 Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev was charged with terrorism after being caught photographing areas surrounding the London studios, and in September Iran International said it was resuming broadcasting from London, UK. Dovtaev was found guilty and sentenced to 3 ¹/₂ years in jail.

History and availability

Iran International was launched on 18 May 2017, with the aim of serving the 80 million people that live in Iran and the Iranian diaspora around the world, in addition to informing and educating a global audience on the latest news and developments in Iran and across the Middle East.
The channel is headquartered in London and broadcasts internationally, with a team of journalists that have joined Iran International from other Persian-language news channels including Manoto, Radio Farda, BBC Persian Service and Voice of America. It has bureaus in Istanbul, Paris and Washington D.C.
Iran International broadcasts via the TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT satellite to a wide region of Europe and Asia, and also transmits an audio relay of it receivable in Iran via shortwave radio. It also broadcasts worldwide via online streaming through its website or streaming apps.
It is licensed in the United Kingdom to Global Media Circulating Ltd as an editorial news service based in London and is managed by DMA Media Ltd, which has bureaus in Paris, Istanbul, Kabul and Washington. Volant Media UK launched a sister channel in 2021, Afghanistan International.
In 2018 Iran's ambassador to the UK lodged a complaint to the media regulator because of Iran International's interview with a separatist group spokesman after they claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province, killing 25 civilians and military. The channel aired an interview with Yaqoub Hor Altostari, presented as a spokesman for the group, indirectly claiming responsibility for the attack and calling it "resistance against legitimate targets". After a long investigation Ofcom ruled that Iran International did not breach any rules.
On 9 November 2022, among the Mahsa Amini protests, the Iranian Minister of Intelligence Ismail Khatib announced that Iran International has been declared a terrorist organization by the Islamic Republic of Iran for supposedly inciting the anti-government riots. Any cooperation with the channel will be considered an act of cooperation with terrorists and a threat to national security.
In response to Iranian government castigation, Iran International deemed it needed to increase security in order to protect its London staff from threats emanating from Tehran. These bulwarks have included concrete barriers "guaranteed to stop a 7.5 ton truck at 50 miles per hour," taking the lead from the way the UK government uses such barriers to defend against vehicular onslaughts, which vehicles are now monitored through checkpoints.
Eventually, on February 18, 2023, after a significant escalation in state-backed threats from Iran and advice from the Metropolitan Police, Iran International TV said it had reluctantly closed its London studios temporarily and moved broadcasting to Washington, D.C. Operations resumed at a new location in London in September 2023.

Attack on Iran International

The Handala group infiltrated the internal systems and data of Iran International in July 2025. Iran International confirmed the authenticity of the leaked data in a statement. The group said it had published information on more than 71,000 users, employees, financial records, contracts and internal messages of the network. In total, the volume of the leaked data is said to have exceeded 2 terabytes.

Programming

According to Middle East Eye, Iran International is a media platform for the Iranian opposition. Kourosh Ziabari of Al-Monitor wrote it "does not shy away from presenting itself as an opposition media organization" and frequently gives the microphone to guests who criticize the Iranian government. The channel has been referred to as an "Iranian exile news outlet" by Borzou Daragahi of The Independent.
The channel is known for raising the profile of Reza Pahlavi, the last heir apparent to the former Iranian throne, by constant coverage and repeatedly interviewing him. It also airs coverage of People's Mujahedin of Iran, including live broadcast of their rallies.
The claim of responsibility for the Ahvaz military parade attack was made through Iran International. In 2020, the TV broadcast performance of Iranian singers who were flown in from the United States to the Winter at Tantora Festival. Iran International does not run television advertisements.

News output

Iran International relies on a team of journalists around the world and reports on current affairs, health, technology, human rights violations, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights and more. The channel has reported extensively on the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the Iran Nuclear Deal and global politics.
The channel also airs television shows on sport, culture and politics and has produced documentaries that have been nominated for awards by the Association for International Broadcasters.

Exclusive stories

Iran International reported exclusively on the extension of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's furlough, and her partner Richard Ratcliffe has been a guest on the channel multiple times. The channel was also the first to report that Iranian rapper Amir Tataloo was facing deportation back to Iran from Turkey, and the sentencing of The Salesman star Taraneh Alidoosti.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, the channel published exclusive documents pertaining to alleged high level government corruption concerning COVID-19 medical supplies, with The Independent writing that the documents "purported to show how Iran regime figures intervened in the procurement of medical supplies to steer South Korean contracts for Covid-19 test-kits through shell companies towards conservative foundations controlled by cronies".
Reporting on the execution of Navid Afkari, Iran International exclusively interviewed Amnesty International's Iran Researcher and human rights lawyer Raha Bahreini, who told the channel that "with the secret and previously unannounced execution of Navid Afkari, the Islamic Republic authorities once again showed the ruthless and merciless of Iran's judiciary system at the international level".

Zarifgate

On 25 April 2021, Iran International obtained a leaked audio file of Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif criticising the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and claiming that the deceased commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani had taken Iran into the Syrian Civil War because Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Iranian forces on the ground to complement the Russian air campaign in support of the Syrian Government.
Zarif also mentioned that Russia had wanted to stop the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and keep Iran at odds with the West.
Elements of the recording also prompted US Republicans to call for the resignation of John Kerry from US President Joe Biden's National Security Council after Zarif revealed during the recording that Kerry had informed him of Israeli operations in Syria.

Human rights

Lesbian activist and journalist at Iran International, Aram Bolandpaz has produced several documentaries on the LGBTQ+ community inside Iran and has been a vocal critic of human rights violations against the community.
In June 2020, Iran International reported on a series of honour killings and gender-based violence that took place in Iran, with legal analyst and journalist at Iran International Nargess Tavalossian, the daughter of Nobel Prize winning activist Shirin Ebadi, speaking publicly to global media outlets about the increase in violence against women in the country.
The channel has also been noted for its reporting on the arrest of award-winning film director Mohammed Rouslouf.