Houthi television station's UK arm to be shut down within days

A London-based Houthi television station, Al Masirah TV, is scheduled to be removed from the UK's official register of companies within days following an investigation by The National. Despite being registered since 2014 and filing accounts regularly, the company has never broadcast content or generated income. The company was given notice on August 25 to file its annual accounts and confirm the accuracy of publicly available details, including director names, but failed to do so.

Its entry on Companies House now indicates it will be dissolved on November 10. To prevent this, the company would need to obtain a court order. Al Masirah TV utilizes a London cafe address as its London presence, with one UK director listed as Ammar Al Hamzy, the director general of the parent station based in Beirut. Another director is listed as Ebrahim Al Dulaimi, the Houthi envoy to Iran and a member of the political council for Ansar Allah.

The exact reason for Al Masirah TV's UK registration remains unclear, but it has raised concerns over alleged illicit funding, visa fraud, and intelligence gathering on political rivals. The shadow home affairs minister, Alicia Kearns, highlighted the company's presence during a House of Commons speech, stating it raises serious questions about its existence.

Kearns emphasized that a Houthi-linked television station has no place in Britain while concerns over visa abuse and intelligence gathering persist. The government agreed to investigate Al Masirah TV following concerns raised by Conservative MP Bob Blackman that it may breach anti-terrorism funding regulations or be used by Houthi rebels to obtain visas for entry into the UK.

Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, explained that the station's existence would facilitate Houthi rebels' visa acquisition through a plausible reason for their presence in the country. Al Masirah TV is the mouthpiece of the Houthi rebels, or Ansar Allah, who have controlled large parts of northern Yemen since 2015, a region home to approximately 25 million people.

The station is affiliated with the Islamic Radio and Television Union, the media arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which supports and often creates television channels and media outlets for Iran's proxies, including Hezbollah, Kataib Hezbollah, and Hamas.