MPs urge investigation into London TV station over alleged links to Iran’s IRGC

A London-based TV station could be in breach of the new ban on supporting Iran’s IRGC, Metro has been told.

Counter-terror police have been warned that LuaLua TV could be in breach of the new National Security Act which prohibits support of the IRGC.

The station is openly a member of the Islamic Radios and Television Union (IRTVU), which the US declared in 2020 was ‘owned or controlled by’ the IRGC Quds Force.

LuaLua TV has an Ofcom license but is only active online and on social media, where it regularly praises Hezbollah and Hamas terror attacks and promotes Iranian propaganda.

The government’s former extremism tsar, Lord Walney told Metro he believes the outlet ‘breaches the new National Security Act’ because of its ties to the IRTVU.

Alicia Kearns MP, Shadow National Security Minister, said its director ‘has little deniability’ over its links to the IRGC.

LuaLua TV was originally set up in London in 2011 as an opposition channel to Bahrain’s government.

The station still streams online and appears to be firmly under Iran’s sphere of influence, regularly heaping praise on Hamas and Hezbollah commanders.

This includes celebrating the role of Hezbollah in the October 7 terror attack, which killed over 1,200 people, and mourning the massacre’s mastermind, Yahya Sinwar.

The outlet is a member of the IRTVU, a membership group spanning 35 countries for media entities which describes itself as a ‘strong and cohesive Islamic media bloc based on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad’.

In 2020, the IRTVU was sanctioned by the United States, which said it was ‘owned or controlled’ by the IRGC, and functioned as their ‘propaganda arm’.

The US Department of Justice also shut down LuaLua TV’s website in 2021.

LuaLua’s membership of the IRTVU has led Lord Walney to conclude that the station is breaching the new National Security Act, which outlaws support for the IRGC.

Lord Walney told Metro: ‘The IRTVU’s website clearly indicates LuaLua TV’s membership, demonstrating the channel’s linkage to a union sanctioned by the US because of its control by the IRGC-Quds Force.

‘I believe this breaches the new National Security Act which saw the IRGC’s designation as membership would entail LuaLua both giving and receiving material support that benefits its commercial operations.

‘LuaLua’s proven relationship with an IRGC-controlled media union is an important test case for the new legislation, and I urge the relevant authorities to appropriately investigate and prosecute in the event of evidential thresholds being reached.’

The National Security Act makes it an offence to assist a designated body, such as the IRGC, such as by paying fees, services, information and financial support.

It is also prohibited to obtain a material benefit from or on behalf of a designated body, including receiving money or information.

A report – seen by Metro – has now been submitted to Counter Terror Police, calling for LuaLua TV to be investigated over breaching these aspects of the new ban.

Kearns, MP for Rutland and Stamford, agreed that cops should examine the links between the station and the IRTVU.

She told Metro: ‘LuaLua appears prominently on the IRTVU’s website.

‘As the union was sanctioned for being controlled by the IRGC-Quds Force, its director has little deniability.

‘Now that this government has banned the IRGC as well as criminalised giving or receiving material support, breaches must be properly investigated with the CPS authorising charges where evidence is deemed sufficient and likely to secure a conviction.’

Luke Akhehurst, the Labour MP for Durham North, said there ‘is little doubt in my mind’ that LuaLua TV ‘should be reinvestigated by Counter Terrorism Police’.

Counter Terror Officers already probed the station over its previous support for proscribed groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, the Telegraph reported in February.

Among the concerns raised by MPs about the channel at the time were references to the former head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and the dead chief of Hamas, Sinwar, as heroes and martyrs.

LuaLua TV’s parent company Shells for Media was registered at an address in London until February 6 this year, when its business appears to have been given a default address at Companies House’s Cardiff office.

Ofcom still has the channel registered at an address in north London.

LuaLua TV content that it streams online is not subject to Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code becuase it does not appear on regulated TV.

However a spokesperson for Ofcom said: ‘As the broadcasting regulator, we have an ongoing duty to be satisfied that all broadcast licensees are fit and proper to hold their licences.

‘We will carefully consider any new evidence available, which could include the outcome of any criminal investigations.

‘As the online safety regulator, our job is to ensure that platforms in scope of the Online Safety Act have taken appropriate steps to protect people in the UK from illegal content.’

Alongside the IRGC, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that two other groups will be proscribed as a threat to national security.

There were the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR), and the volunteer corps of Russia’s GRU (foreign military intelligence agency).

New powers will be given to police and intelligence agencies to tackle espionage, foreign interference, sabotage and physical attacks from these groups.

Iran’s IRGC is believed to be behind seven attacks in the UK linked to Jewish and Israeli communities, including the antisemitic arson attack on four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green on March 23.

A government spokesperson said: ‘We expect the police to be made aware of evidence of criminality, or support of a proscribed or designated organisation.

‘Under the State Threats Act, we have criminalised glorification of the IRGC, who were involved in foreign power threat activity against the UK. This means it is an offence to support, assist or obtain material benefits from them.

‘A comprehensive set of measures aimed at countering threats posed by the Iranian regime have also been introduced, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety, as well as more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities.’

A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson said: ‘Any allegations relating to possible terrorism or national security related offences are passed to officers within Counter Terrorism Policing, who will assess the details and take any further action as appropriate. More broadly, we do not comment on who may or may not be subject to any counter terrorism investigation.’