Hossein Ghandehari, a billionaire who has pledged millions to Reform UK, was in a joint venture with a powerful Iranian religious foundation answerable to the supreme leader, The Guardian reports, citing a French arbitration ruling.
According to the ruling, Ghandehari's HP Trust held a 49 per cent stake in a venture to build a fibre-optic network across Iran between about 2013 and 2016. The other 51 per cent belonged to Astan Quds Razavi, a Mashhad-based foundation the US sanctioned in 2021. The venture ended when a hardliner took over the foundation.
Ghandehari's lawyers said the foundation was the only viable partner at the time, that the deal was approved by French and US authorities, and that he has not been to Iran for 30 years and lost his assets there in 2016. Nigel Farage has been a vocal critic of Iran's government.
Source: The Guardian
